A Closer Look
by Sparkling Patronus
Summary: James suddenly finds himself on an unfamiliar street one night, twelve years after his encounter with Voldemort. Recalling what has happened previously, he sets off to find his son. Takes place in Harry's third year.
1. Awakening

**OK so here we go; my attempt at what may be one of the most overused plot lines ever. That's right, the infamous "James returns from the dead" fanfic. I love reading these so I figured I would give a shot at writing one of my own. Therefore, I am going to try to make this plot as much my own as possible. So this fanfic will take place in Harry's third year, before even Harry knows of Sirius's innocence, but already has heard the story of how Sirius was supposedly his parent's secret keeper. Maybe that'll give it a bit of a twist. Let's see how this turns out shall we?**

**Disclaimer: sigh Nope, I own nothing…**

Chapter 1

All was quiet on the dark street; no living creature was out on the cold night. None, that is, except for a large stag, who happened to be known as Prongs, which was lying in the middle of the deserted street. If anyone had been out on that chilly night they would have found the site of a large stag lying still in the middle of the cold street quit perplexing. But there was no one there.

The stag twitched slightly, and then moments later opened his eyes, a look of utmost confusion evident on his face. He lay still for a few moments, trying to figure out exactly what was going on. A few moments later the stag disappeared, and standing in its place was a man with messy black hair and hazel eyes, James Potter.

James stood up and dusted off his robes, which were dirty from the street he had just been lying in. He looked around and tried to figure where he was and what had happened. Suddenly thoughts came whizzing back to his mind. The last thing he remembered…

_The door flew off the hinges, breaking the silence of the peaceful night. It was soon accompanied by a horrible laugh that made the hair on the back of James's neck stand on end. His eyes widened in terror as he realized what must be happened. In a state of panic he turned to his wife, "It's him! Take Harry and run! I'll try to hold him off!" His wife nodded quickly, snatched Harry up from his crib, and rushed up the stairs as quickly as she could. _

_James's eyes followed them up the stairs before the turned and fixed upon the man who had just entered, Voldemort. He pulled out his wand, as the man entered his house and gave him a cruel grin._

"_Well, well, well if it isn't James Potter," said Voldemort in a mocking sort of tone, "so nice to see you. Another cruel laugh filled the air as Voldemort advanced further into the house._

_James clenched his teeth, his knuckles turned white as he gripped his wand tightly. He quickly stepped forward and attempted to hit Voldemort with the full body bind. Voldemort, however, simply stepped out of the way and flashed another cruel grin._

"_I haven't time to play with you Potter! I am here for the boy, so as much as I'd love to play around I will be finishing you off quickly," Voldemort said. He opened his mouth, as if he was about to cast his spell, but closed it, "Hmmm…perhaps I will use a different spell on you, I think a slow and painful death would be better for you and I have just the spell for the job! Ingetanontas!" he shouted._

_James hadn't expected it to happen so quickly. Before he could move out of the way a beam of purple light hit him and sent him flying into the wall. Voldemort laughed one last time before he proceeded up the stairs._

_James ignored the throbbing pain he was feeling, despite the pain of being thrown into the wall the spell hadn't seemed to do anything. He quickly changed to his animagus form and charged up the stairs in an attempt to reach his sons room. He could hear his wife already pleading with Voldemort and he hoped he wouldn't be too late._

_Suddenly, as James's was halfway across the hall he felt a horrible stabbing pain and fell over. It was followed by more, but he staggered across the hall. As he reached the door near his son's room he collapsed, the pain was too much. He could barely keep his eyes open as he watched the scene in front of him. Voldemort shot a beam of green light at Lily and she fell to the floor. He immediately knew she was gone, and he now had a new reason to cry along with the horrible pain he was experiencing. Voldemort now rounded on his son, but as he shot the familiar curse it seemed to rebound and hit Voldemort. James was shocked, how was it possible that his son hadn't been harmed? But by this point it was too much, he succumbed to the pain and everything went black._

James came back to the present time, whatever that happened to be, and thought this over. He realized his wife had been killed and already he felt the tears forming in his eyes. Then another thought struck him, his son may not have been! He could see the picture so vividly in his mind, the curse had not killed his son but had rebounded and hit Voldemort! But was it possible? What had happened afterwards? He had passed out after that…But he was quit sure Lily was gone, what was he going to do? He felt tears sliding silently down his face as he collapsed onto the cold ground once more, sobbing to himself.

James didn't know how long he had been lying there, sobbing, but by the time he pulled himself together the first rays of morning were beginning to shine. James stood up and scolded himself quietly, "Pull yourself together James, you may have a son out there!" he paused; he _may_ have a son out there. Ignoring that little fact he began to think about his next course of action. He looked up at the street sign, which read Abingdin. He had absolutely no clue where he was.

James wondered something for a moment. He wandered over to a nearby shop window and searched. His eyes met a calendar that was hanging on the wall. Just what he had been looking for! He nearly passed out as he saw the date, which immediately told him he had apparently been dead for 12 years.

Shocked, he realized that Harry may be at Hogwarts! After all he should be (James paused a moment to count on his fingers) 13 by now! His eyes lit up for a moment before he thought of something that made his face fall. He couldn't apparate to Hogwarts; it wasn't possible to apparate onto the grounds. He sighed, he knew what he was going to have to do, and in a flash, the street was deserted once more as James apparated to the place nearest to Hogwarts he could think of.

(OK this part was directly quoted from the third book, pages 265-266)

"AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHH! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Harry woke as suddenly as though he'd been hit in the face. Disoriented in the total darkness, he fumbled with his hangings-he could hear movements around him, and Seamus Finnigan's voice from the other side of the room: "What's going on?"

Harry thought he heard the dormitory door slam. At last finding the divide in his curtains, he ripped them back, and at the same moment, Dean Thomas lit his lamp.

Ron was sitting up in bed, the hangings torn from one side, a look of utmost terror on his face.

"Black! Sirius Black! With a knife!"

"_What?"_

With another pop James found himself at Kings Cross Station, hoping no one had noticed a seemingly dead man appearing out of no where. He looked around, but no one seemed to have noticed anything in the hustle and bustle of the busy station. He breathed a sigh of relief and began walking toward platform 9. His eyes met it, and his casually slipped through when no one was looking.

James looked around; Platform 9¾ didn't look familiar at all. The scarlet steam engine was there, but it was not in use, ready to carry the students to Hogwarts. In fact the whole place looked rather dark and deserted, not at all like what he remembered from his school days! This brought a new thought to his mind, where were his friends? Had they survived too? He hoped they had, but he would have to worry about that after he found his son.

With a deep breath, James looked down the track. He could travel along the tracks to reach Hogwarts! But of course it would probably take him about a week, James thought. He would be moving fare more slowly than the large train, even if he ran in the form of a stag. Of course he was sure it would be safe, the Hogwarts express wouldn't be in use again until it was time for all of the students to leave Hogwarts. Without a second thought, James transformed into a stag, and set off down the rode.

**OK, I don't know how that turned out, but I'm hoping it wasn't too bad! Please reply if you find the time because I'd like to know what you thought! Thanks for reading! I'll try to update soon!**


	2. The Shrieking Shack

**OK here we go, part two. Hopefully this one'll be a bit more interesting than the fist chapter! Oh and in case you didn't notice, I added a bit more to the first chapter, so if you haven't already you should go back and read that first!**

**Disclaimer: As much as I wish I owned something here, sadly, I do not. Except maybe the plotline…maybe…**

**Oh all who reviewed thank you, you made my day )**

**Thank you Masked Detective, Sima, Schnickledooger, A.J. of Gryffindor, LimaBean0501, Kilikapele, empathicallychosen, MionePotterU and RebelHanyouofDarknes(did I forget anyone?) I'm glad you like the fic. If you had a question I'll answer it after the chapter, which I decided to make longer than the first one, it should be though! Enjoy!**

James began his journey immediately. The week seemed to go by in a blur, a big, exhausting blur for that matter. He simply ran, eyes fixed on the road ahead. He didn't look back, nor did he observe the scenery. The only times he stopped were to eat some grass (blech, his stomach may be that of a stag, but his taste buds thought differently!) or to sleep for a few hours. Then he would simply start running again.

The only thought on James's mind the entire time was that he had to reach Hogwarts, his son might be there. James didn't know what he would do if it turned out he wasn't. But he brushed these unpleasant thoughts away and tried to put all of his concentration into his steadily pounding hooves, which were becoming extremely sore for that matter.

After 6 days of running James felt as though he would collapse. Every muscle in his body ached from running non stop and he was weary from lack of food and sleep. But all through the pain he never stopped, he wasn't giving up now!

Finally, on the eighth day of his long journey, James saw the castle coming into joy. He could almost sing, until he realized he was still a stag and it probably wouldn't sound like singing. James now realized just how weary he was and, instead of heading into the castle, he used the last of his energy to sprint into the forest, where he collapsed, out cold.

James awoke about two days later, and tried to remember where he was. The days and days of running came back to him as he suddenly realized what had awakened him. He was extremely hungry, and he immediately began grazing. Even the grass didn't seem too bad now.

He stretched his legs; they felt a little better now. He was about the transform back into a man when he realized it'd be best to remain a stag until he figured out his next course of action. After all he was in the middle of the Forbidden Forest and he was supposed to be dead! He trotted to the edge of the forest to see what time of day it was. Blinding sunlight greeted him at the edge of the woods. Well, that answered his question, and with that he turned and headed back into the dark forest.

Remus Lupin sat in his office, thinking out his next Defense Against the Dark Arts Lesson. He sighed and glanced out the window. How could he concentrate when the full moon was so near? But nonetheless he turned back to his work. But he realized something that made him do a double take.

He looked back out the windows but saw nothing but the dark trees of the forbidden forest, the lashing branches of the Whomping Willow and the bright blue sky. That was odd…he could've sword for a moment he'd seen... He shook his head; that was ridiculous and impossible. His mind was most definitely playing tricks on him. Sighing, he once again shifted his attention back to planning his next lesson.

James stretched once more; now back in the shelters of the forest. He wanted to go to Dumbledore, or look for his son, but he wasn't sure how people would react if they saw a dead guy walking through the school. James racked his brain, attempting to think of a secret passage that would put him near Dumbledore's office.

But he was still tired, and before he could put much thought into the matter he had drifted off to sleep once more.

James awoke again, later that evening, feeling refreshed and ready to think of his next course of action. He trotted to the ends of the woods and looked around. The sun had already begun to go down, making it slightly colder out as well.

He stared but and an odd sight caught his eye. It was over by the Whomping Willow.

"Is that Remus," James thought to himself. He would know him anywhere, even if the light wasn't quit right and his hair seemed a little grayer than the last time he had seen him.

"What's he doing here?" Jame wondered. He didn't have any time to think about this though because curiosity got the better of him and he just watched Remus's action silently from the shadows of the trees.

Remus was walking toward the Whomping Willow, he seemed to be in quit a hurry. Suddenly, he stopped, picked up a stick and prodded a knot on the tree. The branches stopped moving, and James saw Remus slip down the passage and heard his footsteps echoing as he walked to the end.

James knew Remus had always gone there for his transformations, he didn't even know if it was the night of the full moon but it seemed a little early. Remus usually went down about a half an hour before he was to transform. Right now he seemed about three hours early!

James just had to know why he was going down there at this time! He waited a few moments, just to be sure that Remus had definitely gone all the way down the tunnel, he didn't exactly need to be discovered until he figured out exactly what was going on.

After he was sure Remus had passed through the tunnel and into the Shrieking Shack, he transformed back into a man. He crept quietly toward the willow and prodded the not with the same branch Remus had used. He was about to enter when he noticed something lying on the ground a few feet from him.

He walked over to it and examined it, he would know it anywhere! This was his old invisibility cloak! He quickly slipped it over him, couldn't hurt to be careful after all. While the branches were still frozen, he simply slipped into the passage.

He felt a sense of familiarity as he crawled along in the tunnel he had been through so many times during his school days. He stopped just in front of the door and pressed his ear to it.

He could hear muffled voices on the other side. Deciding he should find out what was going on before he walked in. Staying hidden underneath the cloak, James transformed yet again so he could hear what they were saying a bit more clearly. Now he could just make out what was being said beyond the door, and it appeared to be an odd conversation.

"-unless he was the one…unless you switched…without telling me?" said what was unmistakably Remus's voice.

James listened, but he was very confused. Who was Remus talking to and what the heck was he talking about? James listened intently, hoping to hear more so he could figure this out.

"Professor," said a male voice that James didn't recognize, "what's going on?"

Had James not been so interested and confused, he might have laughed at the fact that someone had just called Remus 'professor' but James wasn't worried about that right now. There was a small silence and some moving around before…

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!" yelled another voice, this time female, that James had never heard (and that made him jump back slightly in surprise).

"You-you-" said the same voice

"Hermione-" said Remus's voice. ("So that's her name," James thought to himself.)

"-you and him!"

"You and who!" James thought, this was getting more confusing by the second.

"Hermione, calm down-"

"I didn't tell anyone!" said the girl named Hermione's voice again. "I've been covering up for you"("Huh?" thought James.)

"Hermione listen to me please!"

"I trusted you," shouted the male voice he had heard before, "and all this time you've been his friend!"

"You're wrong," said Remus, "I haven't been Sirius's friend ("Is Sirius in there too?" James thought, and who did the two other voices he had heard belonged to?) but I am now-Let me explain…"

"NO!" Hermione yelled. "Harry don't trust him he's been helping Black get into the castle, he wants you dead too – he's a werewolf!"

James head spun, that last sentence had confused him more than anything else that had happened so far. First of all Harry was his son's name…but it couldn't be him could it? Then again why couldn't it…Remus and Sirius seemed to know him… Wait a minute! Had that girl just said that Sirius and Remus wanted this Harry person dead! Then how could he be his son? Remus and Sirius would never do anything like that to his son! Why had this girl said Remus was helping Sirius get into the castle? What had Sirius done that had made him unwelcome there?

All these thoughts swam around in James's head, making it feel like it was about to explode. His curiosity had gotten the better him. He had to see what was going on beyond that door! He transformed back into a man, opened the door silently and slipped into the room silently, still under the cloak.

**OK lemme just take a minute to answer any questions or comments from reviewers.**

**LimaBean0501-He didn't apparate into Hogsmeade because it would be full of wizards and James doesn't exactly want a lot of attention right now. So it kinda really was significant to the plot.**

**OK I stupidly deleted some of my reviews(permanently) and I couldn't remember who asked me, but someone asked if I knew any other good James back to life fics. Sure do! I'll give you a couple of my favorites: Return of the Father, Across Dimensions, and Is it Realy You? Are my favorite ones**

**OK thanks for reading, I'll et the next one up soon!**


	3. The Filthy Rat

**OK here we go, chapter three. I'm very happy that you gys liked it and a big thanks to A.J. of Gryffindor, Kilikapele, Schnickledooger, padfootqueen, Barbossa'sApples, Silver-Entrantress-Elf, Padfootluver, Ingrid-Potter, and fille-chica143! Once again any questions will be answered after the chapter. Hope you like it!**

After James had entered the room, he closed the door behind him, which he immediatly realized was probably stupid. He moved to the back of the room, hoping no one had noticed. But apparently they had because Remus stepped over to the door and looked out.

"No one there…"

"This place is haunted!" said a red haired boy who was sitting on a nearby couch.

"It's not," said Lupin. And he immediately set off on an explanation of how everyone had hard him and thought it was haunted.

James shook his head; a simple sentence could get Remus talking for hours. James looked around the room. His eyes landed on a boy with messy black hair, and there was no doubt in James's mind who this boy was, this was definetly his son Harry.

He looked like a carbon copy of himself, and James had an urge to run out and hug him but he thought better of it. Afterall, he didn't seem to trust Remus and Sirius yet, seeing his dead father appear out of no where might just be a little too much right now…

His eyes traveled to Sirius and he almost gasped but managed to restrain himself. What happened to him? He looked like a skeleton, his eyes were sunken and sad looking and he had a gaunt, gloomy expression on his face. This was definetly not the Sirius James remembered!

It also made him wonder why Harry didn't already _know _Sirius and Remus! After all they were his best friends! For the first time since he had awakened on that cold street, James's thoughts traveled to Peter.

"That filthy dirty lying rat!" he thought, there was no doubt in his mind that Peter was behind this, whether directly or indirectly he did not know. But he vowed he would make that filthy traitor pay for this one way or another!

Suddenly, Snape burst through the door with his wand in the air, and James realized he must have been listening from the other side.

Everyone in the room reacted quickly, all jumping up and facing Snape.

"You're wondering, perhaps, how I knew you were here?" he said, "I've just been to you office, Lupin. You didn't take your potion tonight, so I took a goblet full along. And very lucky I did…lucky for me, I mean. Lying on your desk was a certain map. One glance at it told me all I needed to know. I saw you running along this passageway and out of site."

James held his breath, had Snape perhaps seen him on the maptoo? He looked at Snape, by the look on his face it seemed that he hadn't. He'd probably seen Lupin and gotten so excited he'd run out. He'd said, after all, that he'd only taken one glance. James exhaled out of relief, but quickly noticed stunning spells flying around the room. James had no time to dodge as a spell hit him and he blacked out.

-(A bit later)-

He came to some time later, and found himself lying on the floor where he'd been earlier. He stood up and dusted himself off, apparently he'd remained under the cloak and no one had seen him! He looked around the room, which was now empty. Where had they gotten to?

James silently left the room and made his way back down the passage. He walked out of the passage and looked around, but there was no one in site. He wondered how long he had been asleep and cursed himself for not dodging that spell. He walked a little further out onto the grounds and heard an earsplitting howl. He froze, he knew that howl!

James looked up and confirmed his fears; a full moon shone brightly in the dark night sky. He transformed into a stag yet again, (What would he do if he hadn't become animagus!) the last thing he needed was a werewolf bite!

He was straining to listen for other sounds when he saw it. A small rat was running quickly through the grass. James knew that rat, he had seen it hundreds of times! He transformed back as quickly as he could

"Stupefy!" he shouted. He hit the rat squarely and it stopped moving.

"Hey I still got it in me!" James mumbled to himself as he walked over to examine the rat.

He picked it up by the tail and twirled it around. Yep, that was Peter all right! The dirty traitor! James had the urge to step on him but he restrained himself, picked up the unconscious rat, and stuffed him roughly into his pocket. What was Peter doing at Hogwarts anyway? Hadn't he done enough damage 12 years ago?

"Oh God," thought James, "No doubt he's after my son!" James felt a wave of fury pass over him. How was this traitorous rat ever placed in Gryffindor? He wasn't brave, loyal or any other quality of a Gryffindor for that matter!

James was about to lose control and just blow Peter up on the spot when something caught his attention and made him stop. He strained his ears to see if he would here it again. At first he heard nothing, then there it was again, a dog was yelping in pain nearby. He knew those yelps…

"Padfoot!" he yelled in alarm, and started running toward the direction of the sound.

He cut through the forest in an attempt to find the source of the sound. After a few moments the yelps stopped altogether, and James tried to keep his mind off of exactly what could have happened. Now for the first time he realized how could it was and in the dark he could barely see where he was gong. He repeatedly stumbled but managed, by some miracle, to keep his balance each time his foot caught on a rock or an overgrown tree root.

After running for about two minutes he realized he was on foot, and transformed into a stag for what felt like the tenth time that night. He raced across the woods with all the speed he could muster, both terrified of what he would find, and anxious to just hurry up and find it.

Finally, after what appeared to be an eternity, he broke out of the woods and stopped in front of the lake. He looked around for his friend and saw something that made his breath catch in his throat.

**OK so now that the chapters finished I'll just take a second and answer any questions or comments.**

**fille-chica143-Hey give me a little time lol. I put that in this chapter, I didn't want to do too much at once!**

**Kilikapele-Yeah, I've read 'Still Breathing', I just forgot to add it to my favorite ones!**

**A.J. of Gryffindor-I put the marks in, they just didn't show up when I uploaded it for some reason. I'm using a different word processor this time so hopefully that'll take care of that problem!**

**Thanks again everyone, and feel free to leave reviews! I'll try to get the next chapter up soon! **


	4. Expecto Patronum

**Yeah I know, I left you on a cliffhanger there! Don't think that't the last you'll see of them either evil grin Well let me just take a moment to thank my reviewers.**

**A big thanks to padfootqueen, amrawo, Kilikapele, Kim Kotchanski, Schnickledooger, Ingrid-Potter, Barbossa'Apples, fille-chica143, and Draco'saladyMarrymeOliver, I greatly appreciate the reviews!**

**Now, on with the story _(trumpet sounds)_**

There, on the other side of the lake, lay his friend, his son and two other children he didn't quit recognize. They were surrounded by what appeared to be dementors, and lots of them. In his horror, he saw a dementor crounching low to his son. He watched with wide eyes as it pulled back it's hood and moved closer still.

He shook off his shock, he had to act now! Focusing with all his might on the memory of the day Harry was born he shouted "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

He watched as a large silver rhino shot out of the tip of his wand and charge toward the dememtors. It rampaged across the side of the lake and took out the demontor near his son in what appeared to be the nick of time. He watched in relief as his patronus made short work of getting rid of all the dementors.

He watched it charge back to him and he gave it a nod of approval before it vanished in a wisp of silver smoke. Now he looked up to where the other lie and ducked down quickly as he saw his son looking toward him. After a moment, he appeared to have passed out, and James saw Snape running toward the lot of them lying on the ground.

James didn't know what Snape was doing so he shouted, "Stupefy!" when Snape's back was turned. It hit him and he was knocked out cold. James sighed and ran forward to check the damage.

He saw that everyone but himself appeared to be unconscious. Thinking fast he quickly placed them onto stretchers and had them float beside him on his way up to the castle. He thought for a moment and realized he still had the invisibility cloak with him. He placed it over himself and continued on his way up to the castle, thinking how odd this scene would look if someone happened to glance out the window.

-(On the other side of the lake)-

(This is a scenario from the third book only paraphrased to make it shorter…)

Harry felt a familiar wave of cold hit him as the dementors drew nearer to wear he lay sprawled out on the cold ground. He could hear his mother screaming in his ears as the dementor closed in on him. To his horror the dementor nearest him lowered it's hood and he saw the horrible face of the dementor. It leaned closer to him, and he knew this must be how a dementor administered its kiss.

"Expecto Patronum," he said weakly, trying the spell one last time as the darkness threatened to engulf him.

Much to his dismay, the spell did nothing and just when Harry realized he couldn't fight any longer, he saw a large silver form come darting from the other side of the lake, taking out the dementors as it went.

It shot towards him, and took out the dementor mere seconds before Harry would have been worse than dead. He tried to squint into the darkness and see the shape, but he couldn't make it out. All he could tell was that it appeared to be a very large silver animal, a perfectly executed patronus.

He continued to watch as he felt consciousness slipping away. The patronus returned to the other side of the lake. He watched as it was met by the person who had apparently cast the spell. Someone who Harry thought looked strangely familiar…

"Dad?"(AN: familiar?) he whispered, before he passed out where he lay

James used every short cut through the school he could find, all the while making sure they were deserted. He had to find Dumbledore, maybe then he could get some answers to what the heck had been going on for the past 12 years.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of sneaking down empty corridors, James emerged in front of the stone gargoyle he knew would take him to Dumbledore's office.

He thought for a moment and tried to see if he could remember anything that would enable him to figure out Dumbledore's password. He thought for a moment and remembered that Dumbledore usually chose a type of sweet for his password.

James gulped, there were so many different sweets! How was he supposed to guess the correct one? He remembered the password the last time he had been there had been 'Jelly Slugs' but James was sure Dumbledore hadn't kept the same password for over 12 years.

Sure enough, when James said "Jelly Slugs!" the gargoyle didn't budge. Even though he knew it probably wouldn't work, James still felt a twinge of disappointment that the password hadn't worked!

His nerves were wearing thin, what if someone came down the corridor and saw five unconscious people hovering in front of Dumbledore's office for now apparent reason! He didn't think they would take it so calmly!

He now realized it probably would have been a better idea to dump the three children into the Hospital Wing first and he cursed himself for being so stupid. But then again he would still have Snape and Sirius to worry about. But it was too late now anyway, he had no time to run all the way to the other side of the castle and back even if he wanted to.

Quickly he thought of every type of candy he could remember and said them all in quick succession. "Ummm…Sugar Quill? Fizzing Whizbee? Every Flavor Beans? Tooth Flossing String Mints? Licorice Wands? Ice Mice?"

Much to James relief, at the words 'Ice Mice' the gargoyle quickly jumped to the side, allowing a now nervous James to walk past and up the stairs into Dumbledore's office, a place he had not seen since the beginning of his seventh year.

**OK thanks for reading. Let me see here...not many questions or comments at all this time. I'll just let you know he'll start meeting people really soon (next chapter actually). So thanks for readin and I'll get the nex one up soon!**


	5. First Encounter

**OK next chapter, I made it a bit longer than the last one…**

**OK anyways, a big round of applause for RebelHanyouofDarkness, amrawo, Stefanie2, padfootqueen, Kilikapele, Barbossa'sApples, Ingrid-Potter, misfit2008, bookxluver, dweem-angel, Schnickledooger, Kim Kotchanski and Lady Taliesin I'm forever grateful! Onward!**

James crept quietly up the winding staircase, he didn't know why, he was under the cloak, he just felt like he should be quiet for the moment. When he reached the top of the stairs he pulled the cloak of, took a few deep breathes, and knocked on the door.

He stood there, awaiting the first conversation he would have since he woke up on that street. He didn't wait long before he heard a voice say "Come In"

James quickly decided to leave the others outside the door. However worried he was about their health (Well…except maybe Snape) he knew he wouldn't accomplish anything by bringing five unconscious people into Dumbledore's office.

He walked quietly into the office, his eyes fixed on the carpet as though immensely interested in it. When he stood in front of Dumbledore's desk he looked up, and was surprised to see surprise, sadness and some other unreadable emotions mixed on that usually calm face.

He had expected Dumbledore to take immediate action, jump up and hex him maybe, but all he got was silence as Dumbledore looked him up and down. He began to wonder which was worse. This was an urgent situation!

Finally Dumbledore stood up and aid quietly, "Who are you?"

James wasn't quit sure how to respond to this. He was sure if he told the truth Dumbledore wouldn't believe him. But hey, it was the best he had at the moment, and besides, with a little convincing he was sure Dumbledore would believe him.

"J-James Potter," he said a bit uncertainly, not daring to meet Dumbledore's eyes.

"James Potter is dead," said Dumbledore firmly, with a hint of sadness clear in his voice, "he has been for 14 years"

"No," James said, picking his head up and meeting Dumbledore's gaze, "I'm right here"

James thought he saw something like anger flash through those blue eyes. But when he looked twice he wasn't sure if he had just imagined it. Then hewatched as Dumbledore stood up and pulled out his wand. Before James could react, he shouted a spell which James didn't fully hear because he wasn't expecting it.

James covered his face with his arms, bracing himself for whatever spell Dumbledore had just cat, but to his immense relief, nothing happened. He realized it must have been some sort of spell to take off the effects of Polyjuice potion or some other such method of changing appearance.

He looked up again, now seeing confusion on Dumbledore's face. He had apparently been expecting something to happen (It had been his most powerful revealing spell, but James hadn't seemed to notice) not to still see James standing in front of him.

Dumbledore, however, did not seem satisfied, and he continued to shout out a serried of every revelation curse he knew, each time watching as James reflexively covered his face with his arms. Finally, when Dumbledore could think of no other means of removing a spell that could change appearance, his eyes widened in surprise.

James looked up uncertainly when the spells suddenly stopped, and lowered his arms slowly, watching as Dumbledore studied him once again.

Then, so suddenly that James jumped in surprise; Dumbledore rushed forward and pulled him into a hug. James was speechless as this unexpected show of emotion, and he remained that was for at least two minutes.

"James? How…" Dumbledore asked with tears visible in his eyes.

James was still at a loss for words. He had never seen Dumbledore show emotion so plainly, but he had hugged him and was now crying. Feeling utterly stupid, James just shrugged, but it seemed to be enough.

Dumbledore just stood for a moment, as if he was waiting to wake up from a dream. When nothing happened, he spoke again, "Have you spoken to anyone else yet? Does anyone else know?"

James just shook his head, indicating no one else knew, though he was a bit suspicious Harry may have seen him from across the lake. Finally, he felt his brain turn back on as he remembered Harry and the others still unconscious on the staircase and the limp rat that lay unconscious in his pocket.

"Dumbledore...there are some other things I need to tell you," he said calmly.

(In the Hospital Wing a bit later)-

Harry awoke in the Hospital Wing, every part of his body aching. He tried to remember exactly what had happened. He thought for a moment and all of the memories of what had just happened came flooding back to him.

"I saw my dad!" he said, sitting up in his bed.

"Harry…" said Hermione.

"I saw my dad, he cast a Patronus to drive the dementors away!" he said as if he hadn't heard Hermione.

"Harry your dad is…"

"Dead I know," he replied, "but I'm just telling you what I saw.

He lay back down, every part of his body aching, until he noticed Dumbledore standing in the doorway. Much to the protest of both his body and Madame Promfrey, who had just bustled in to check on her patients, he jumped out of bed and ran over to where Dumbledore stood in front of the door.

"Dumbledore, Sirius is innocent!" he shouted, not even wasting a moment to think.

Dumbledore looked at him for a minute before he replied. "Well Harry, I believe you, but there are still some things that have to be sorted out. Recently certain facts that were…er…overlooked were called to my attention, and it may take a while for the Ministry to sort this out. He is currently on his way to the Ministry for a hearing."

Harry just stood there, dumbstruck. He hadn't expected this for an answer, just for Dumbledore to maybe believe him. How could Sirius have gotten a Ministry hearing when Pettigrew had escaped? Especially with that idiot Fudge ready to set the dementors on him on sight!

Dumbledore must have noticed the blank look in Harry's eyes because he said, "Don't worry, everything will be explained soon enough, just be patient for now. Try to get some rest."

Harry gave Dumbledore an inquisitive look, but said nothing. He knew that the headmaster would make sure nothing happened to Sirius, but still…something wasn't right, Dumbledore wasn't telling him something…

"Sir…" Harry began, but he was cut off by Dumbledore.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine, now why don't you go lay down?"

Harry nodded, knowing he wasn't getting any answers at the present time. He lay down in the bed, but did not fall asleep, he had too much on his mind at the moment. At least he thought so, for after a few minutes Madame Promfrey gave him a potion and he fell into dreamless sleep.

(Dumbledore's office)-

James sat in Dumbledore's office and let out a long sigh. It had taken quit a while to get everything sorted out.

As soon as Dumbledore had realized who he was, James had immediately begun to explain about Sirius and Peter. After hearing Sirius accused of murder and seeing Peter running away, he got the gist what all of the confusion had been about, though he still hadn't known all the facts (Dumbledore filled him in on Sirius's imprisonment, Peter blowing up the street and everything else once James had finished explaining. He brought up everything he remembered about what happened before he (it felt so odd to say it) died.

He told Dumbledore about how Peter had been his secret keeper and Sirius had been innocent. Then he pulled out the unconscious rat and forced him to turn back into a man. Immediately after, Dumbledore had cast a spell on him so he would remain unconscious until the counter curse was spoken.

Once Dumbledore was satisfied with the explanation, the Minister was called in, and James had hidden under the cloak (on task at a time!) while Dumbledore repeated what James had told him and showed Pettigrew to the Minister.

Reluctant though his was to admit that he had been wrong, Fudge could not ignore the evidence that was right in front of him. However, being his awful, stubborn self he had insisted that Sirius have a hearing before he was cleared of charges.

James felt slightly better knowing that Sirius, who was the last person who deserved what he'd had to put up with, would soon be free. He knew that at this moment Sirius was on his way to the Ministry (though he didn't know it, Fudge had insisted that he wasn't to be woken up until they reached the Ministry) with Peter lying unconscious. Maybe, if he was lucky, Peter had been thrown in the trunk.

James stood up, Dumbledore had told him that he could leave the office whenever he saw fit. So James decided he would go give Remus a surprise (and a scare) and he left the office under the cloak.

**OK brief question answering time thingy…**

**Schnickledooger-The meeting with Harry is still giving me trouble, I'm still not all too sure how I want it to go but I'll do my best!**

**To anyone who expressed concerns on me making it cheesy in the following chapters I'm not too sure what you mean. But for one thing I don't write angst, I mean maybe a bit, but too much makes me uncomfortable. So I'm going to try to do this with as little as possible. Still not sure if that's what you mean by 'cheesy' but hey, you'll have to read and see won't you. Well I'll get the next one up soon, feel free to leave a review. **


	6. Marauders on trial

**Whew! I was in a writing mood today so I decided to put this chapter up a little early! **

**OK big thanks to Ingrid-Potter, Draco'salady-MarrymeOliver,**

**Barbossa'sApples, Pixie89, amrawo, hye em yes, Schnickledooger, Stefanie2, Canadian Coco Chick, Kim Kotchanski, fille-chica143, and Stars Enchantress. I love getting reviews! Thanks for leaving them!**

"Ennervate," said a voice loudly, though somewhat reluctantly.

Sirius felt himself returning to consciousness, and realized every part of his body ached. He realized he was in a sitting position and tried to get up, but something was holding him in place. He opened his eyes reluctantly and looked around, but after a moment he wasn't sure if he was completely awake.

It appeared that he was in some sort of court room and had chains binding him to a chair. The people in the court were all mumbling to each other, and staring at him staring at him with expressions such as anger, fear, and disbelief.

"OK something is seriously wrong here," he thought to himself, "One minute I'm getting my soul sucked out by dementors in front of a lake, the next I'm in a court room chained to a chair!" he thought to himself.

He closed his eyes again, rather tightly. Expecting to open them in and see himself in a cell in Askaban or at least still lying by the lake. But when he opened them, the scene in front of him remained unchanged.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity (though it was only a few seconds) of sitting and listening to the muffled murmurs from the court, he heard a voice he'd come to hate.

"Black, recent evidence has been called to our attention by Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witch Craft and Wizardry," Fudge said resentfully, as though he'd rather be doing anything else but giving Sirius Black a trial.

Sirius looked around in a confused manner and saw something that made him gasp and almost fall backwards off of the chair. (he probably would have had he not been chained in place) Chained in the chair next to him and looking absolutely terrified, sat Peter Pettigrew, who had apparently also just been awakened.

Sirius looked at Fudge, but if he was expecting an explanation he didn't get one, for Fudge simply continued talking.

"Peter Pettirew, it has come to our attention that you were presumably dead for the last 12 years and are now sitting before us. There are also accusations that you have faked your own death. Do you deny this?

Peter, who just now seemed to realize what was going on, looked like he really had no clue what to say to this statement, for he just stared around, apparently looking for an escape route. Then with a quick pop, he transformed into a rat.

This was to no avail however, because even in rat form he remained chained firmly to the chair. He changed back looking defeated and utterly terrified.

"An illegal animagus!" said Fudge sounding very surprised, he apparently hadn't known this up until he had seen Peter transform, "Mr. Pettigrew we have no account of you being a rat animagus, so therefore it is illegal! That adds to the charges already against you"

Now Peter sat there, looking as if he were on the verge of tears but refusing to answer. His eyes darted around and Sirius found himself thinking about how the rat deserved what he was getting.

Eventually, annoyed by the fact that Peter wouldn't talk, Fudge ordered Veritaserum to be used on Peter. At once Peter stopped whining and sat strait up under the influence of the truth potion.

Sirius just sat and watched happily as the whole story poured out of Peter's mouth. He knew the evidence was so clear that there was no choice but to set him free, even though he still wasn't sure why Peter had turned up in the first place. He had seen him transform and run away when Moony had transformed.

By the end of the trial Peter had a life sentence in Azkaban for all of the crimes that had thought to have been committed by Sirius, not to mention being a death eater and an illegal animagus. (Sirius wondered if he should register once he was innocent) Reluctant though he was, Fudge had no choice but to let Sirius go, for he had no charges left against him. (well, he was an illegal animagus but he wasn't about to let that slip)

He staggered outside later on thinking how oddly simple that had been. He passed out and when he woke up Peter was going to Azkaban for life and he was free. He could scarcely dare to believe it. He would have to ask Dumbledore how he had done it, so without hesitation he moved back toward Hogwarts. He made sure he stayed in his animagus for though, because news of his freedom wouldn't have spread yet. Freedom…it felt so odd to think that…

(Hospital Wing)-

Harry's eyes snapped open; he must have fallen asleep at some point that night. He sat up and looked around, he must have slept strait through to the morning. The first thought that hit his mind was Sirius. His trial was over!

Harry looked around, looking for someone to question about the matter, but he was the only one in the room who was awake. He had to go see Dumbledore! His godfather could be back in Azkaban, or worse…

Harry didn't want to think about what else could have happened, so instead he jumped out of bed while Madame Promfrey wasn't looking and sprinted down the corridor to Dumbledore's office.

(Corridor)-

Now that he was hidden under the cloak, James didn't bother taking secret passages. He simply walked the hallways, peering into every office in an attempt to spot his friend. He was beginning to get annoyed by the time he checked a sixth classroom and saw no sign of a Defense Against the Dark Arts class (which, Dumbledore had informed him, was what Remus was teaching) but he continued on. To his relief, the eighth classroom he checked appeared to be the one he was seeking.

He slipped inside and saw his friend reading something on a piece of parchment at the front of the room. He crept forward and realized he wasn't reading something, but rather looking at the Marauders Map. James vaguely wondered how he'd gotten the thing back, and he crept up behind Remus and peered over his shoulder.

Remus appeared to only be browsing the school, because his eyes were simply darting across the map. When he eyes fell upon his office he froze. James backed up; he knew that behind the dot labeled 'Remus Lupin' was a dot labeled 'James Potter'

**Don't know how that court scene turned out. I wasn't really too sure how to do it. Feel free to leave me a review! Thanks for reading, I'll have the next one up soon (I always say that!)**


	7. A Shock for Remus

**Wow, I'm really in a writing mood this week, and since I finished the next chapter, I'm posting this one early too. **

**Your reviews just make me want to keep writing, thanks for the push forward Kilikapele, Ingrid-Potter**,** egastin77,** **Kim Kotchanski, Marguerida, amrawo, Barbossa'sApples, MionePotter2U, theKRITIC, fille-chica143, and padfootqueen! I read them and got strait to work on this chapter! **

(Corridor)-

Sirius padded up toward Dumbledore's office. That hadn't taken too long, he'd simply apparated to Hogsmeade and slipped into Honeyduke's. From there he made his way into the cellar, slipped through the trapdoor and made his way up to the castle, same thing he'd been doing all year.

He reached the stone gargoyle and paused. He had no clue what the password was. He decided to give the passwords a try, but he didn't know where to start. (he didn't remember the passwords were always sweets)

He tried everything he could think of he knocked, then (as a dog) whined, barked, scratched the doors and he even tried ramming himself against it. In the end, he realized that had been a stupid waste of time.

He stopped, defeated, and sighed, looks like he'd have to wait for Dumbledore to come out. He sat down in front of the gargoyle and stared up at it expectantly.

(Same Corridor)-

Harry rounded the corner and ran toward the stone gargoyle that was the entrance to Dumbledore's office, trying quickly to think up the names of ever sweet he'd ever eaten. He didn't feel the least bit tired now, he was just focused on helping his godfather. He reached the gargoyle and almost tripped over the large black dog sitting in front of it.

He stopped and stared for a moment and looked at it, he knew that dog! Without thinking he threw his arms around the dog's neck. He was just relieved that Sirius was even here. The dog jumped then turned around and saw Harry.

"Sirius! What happened?" he asked as Sirius changed back.

But before Sirius could answer this question the stone gargoyle sprang aside, and they saw Dumbledore standing at the foot of the stairs.

"Ah, I was just about to visit you at the Hospital Wing," he said to Harry. Then, eyeing Sirius, he said "Apparently I am saved the trouble of explaining where our godfather is, but there are a couple of other things that I have to tell you if you two will accompany me to my office."

Harry and Sirius obediently followed Dumbledore up the stairs, all feeling different emotions. Harry was confused, Sirius overjoyed, and Dumbledore was trying to figure out what he was going to say to the pair of them when the reached the top of the spiral staircase.

(Remus's Office)-

Remus just stared at the dot for a moment, it was so strange. No, more than strange, it was impossible! James was dead; he had been for 14 years! But then again, hadn't Peter been dead for 14 years too? After last night, he really didn't know what to think.

Before last night he had been the last marauder, two were dead and the other was in Azkaban for killing them. But now, he had found that one was still a traitor, but it wasn't Sirius as he had previously thought. It was Peter, Sirius was innocent, he wasn't the last marauder. Now Peter was free (Remus wasn't informed about the trial, seeing as he was out in the forest howling at the moon) Sirius was God-knows-where and James…James was still dead…wasn't he?

Remus held his head for a moment. This was all so confusing, he already had a headache from last night and having fifty thoughts buzzing through his mind was not helping his condition at all. Deciding that there was only one way to find out, he stood up and walked slowly over to where the dot was on the map.

Meanwhile James was watching him from under the cloak. He knew Remus was going to reach the place where he was standing any second. Then he would pull the cloak off and…then what? What was he going to say when his friend found him in his office under and invisibility cloak when he was supposed to be dead? James did the only thing he could think of. He stood there like an idiot as Remus drew nearer, his eyes fixed on the map.

Remus stopped in front of where the dot was on the map. He looked up and saw nothing; he looked back down, 'James Potter' still stood right in front of him. He slowly reached out his hand and took a quick breath. There was definitely something solid right under his fingers. He gave a tug and a cloak fell to the floor. There standing right in front of him was his long dead friend, James Potter.

(Dumbledore's Office)-

They reached the top of the stair case and Dumbledore motioned for them to take a seat in front of his desk. They obeyed and sat down silently in two of the armchairs in front of him. They sat in silence for only a few moments before Harry decided to speak up.

"Professor what…"

Dumbledore cut him off mid sentence, "As you know, Sirius was put on trial before the Ministry yesterday"

"Yes, but why? Wormtail escaped so why did the Ministry agree to it?" he asked.

"Ah, but Peter did not escape Harry. He was captured and brought to my office, where the Minister arrived shortly after and a trial was agreed on," Dumbledore said in reply.

Harry seemed a bit shocked by this news, "But I saw him scurry away as a rat (he paused, did Dumbledore know about the whole animagus thing? He decided to overlook it and continue) how…who captured him?"

"You'll find that out for yourself soon enough Harry," he said, somehow this just wasn't the time or place for him to reveal James to be alive, it was James's decision when he should reveal himself.

"Where is he now then?" Harry asked, apparently not determined to press the subject, which Dumbledore was grateful for.

"In a cell in Azkaban! The good for nothing rat! He deserves what he got for what he did…" Sirius interrupted, his eyes becoming glassy as tears started forming in them. He had not been informed about James either and Dumbledore began to wonder if a certain Professor Lupin had been informed yet.

"That's great!" Harry said happily, "and what happened with you Sirius?" Harry seemed excited now, apparently hoping for the best. If Wormtail was in Azkaban that meant Sirius was…

"Cleared of all charges," Sirius said, more than a hint of happiness evident in his voice.

Harry jumped up and hugged his godfather; this was defiantly a pleasant surprise. Little did he know he was going to get an even bigger one tomorrow.

(Remus's Office)-

Remus just stared, there before him stood James Potter, a man who had been dead for fourteen years. He was wearing a stupid grin but also looked a bit nervous. He didn't know what to think, it was amazing…almost too good to be true. But…but the same thing had happened with Peter.

Wait! Peter…he had seen Peter scurry off just as he began his transformation…perhaps he had tampered with the map. There were charms that could change or disguise a name or even add one. If that was the case this might not even be James…how hard could it be for Peter to disguise himself and tamper with the map? He helped make the map so that would even give him an extra advantage.

What should he do? If it was Peter he couldn't let him get away. But, dare he imagine, what if it _was_ James. Well…he'd just stun him and take him to Dumbledore, they could sort it out later. He whipped out his wand and shouted "Stupefy!". A bright red jet of light shot from the tip of his wand and shot toward where "James" was standing.

Though he was a bit surprised a Remus's reaction, James couldn't blame him. After all, he _was_ supposed to be dead. He darted out of the way and the spell simply left a mark on the wall behind where he had been standing. He rolled left and right, dodging stunners as they came at him. Then suddenly he had an idea.

He transformed and continued dodging beams, but only a couple more came before the shouts of "Stupefy" and the flashes of red ceased. He smiled to himself as he saw his friend drop his wand to the floor in shock.

"P-Prongs?"

**Alrighty lemme see…**

**Kilikapele-Glad you liked the court scene, like I said, I wasn't too sure about how to do it, but I'm glad to know I did OK! There's not a lot of interaction in this chapter, but next chapter they'll have a conversation.**

**Marguerida-Nah, I'm going to keep the fainting out of the story. It's a dull way of having them deal with their emotions**

**Barbossa'sApples-Yeah it would, I'm just glad I _don't _have a dead best friend! Glad you like the court scene too!**

**theKRITIC-Sorry you didn't like the court scene, I tried to keep it short so it wouldn't be dull but I guess you wanted it a bit more long and drawn out. Like I said I wasn't quit sure, I know there are court scenes in the fourth book but they had o do with death eaters, nothing like what I was writing. Well I'll take that into account if I ever write another court scene.**

**Oh and I forgot to mention, some people wanted to see James and Harry make Snape think he's seeing double. Sure, I'll toss that in there too if you wanna see it. Thanks for reading feel free to leave a review 'cause the more I get the quicker I'll update! I'll try to get the next one up soon!**


	8. Return of Prongs

**OK here it is, the next chapter. I'm trying to update frequently, and your reviews really help! So a big thanks to Marguerida, Barbossa'sApples, Kilikapele, Dante Lewis, Ingrid-Potter, fille-chica143, deni1073, Kim Kotchanski, amrawo for your encouragement. Oh BTW I wrote a new fanfic about the marauders calld "Carrying on the Legacy" if anyone's interested in reading it. So here we go:**

Remus just stared at the stag in front of him. The stag had an almost smug look on its face as it stared at him. He just continued to stare, his throat felt dry and he swallowed hard, he knew that stag. How many times had he seen James take the form of the very same stag that was standing in front of him?

There was no doubt in Remus's mind that this stag was Prongs. After all, it was James's animagus form, and no one else would be able to copy it, no matter how many spells or potions they used. And if this stag was Prongs that meant that…

He watched as the stag changed back into a man with messy black hair. He grinned at Remus as he stood with his mouth hanging slightly open. Remus finally composed himself as he felt his voice returning.

"How…?" was all he could manage, his voice surprising horse as he tried to fight the lump rising in his throat.

James figured out what the question meant. "Dunno," he replied in a low voice, Remus's shock was beginning to make him slightly uncomfortable.

Then suddenly Remus shot forward and pulled James into a hug. James stood there, startled, and waited until Remus let him go about three minutes later.

"James…" Remus said

"Your vocabulary has gotten smaller I see," said James as Remus said his name again and trailed off, as if not quit sure what to say.

"Sorry…" he mumbled, "But James how did you…when did you…"

"I don't know how it happened Moony," James replied, "I just woke up about a week ago and I didn't know where I was. I remembered Harry and…" he paused for a moment and turned away, as if fighting to urge to cry, "Lily"

"Does anyone know? Does Dumbledore know?" Remus asked, finally stooping down to pick his wand up off the floor.

"Dumbledore knows," he mumbled in response.

"But James I still don't understand. How could you just…be here after 12 years…it doesn't make any sense," he said, looking down at his shoes"

"There are a lot of things that don't make sense, but Dumbledore said he had a general idea of what happened," said James

"What does he think happened?" Remus asked, now looking back up at his friend.

"I don't know, he didn't have time before the Ministry came to get Sirius so he could go to his trial,"

At this Remus's eyes grew wide, "He got a trial? But how? I saw Wormtail escape…"

"I caught the little rat as he was scurry off and brought his to Dumbledore. Sirius went yesterday, come to think of it, he should be back by now," he said, "Maybe we should pay Dumbledore a visit and see if he's heard anything regarding the trial?"

"Sure," he said, not quit able to believe it. Yesterday there had been only two remaining marauders, one of which was a murderer. Now, 24 hours later, all of the marauders were alive, though one of them was still a murderer…

James made to walk through the door but Remus stopped him and said, "James, I think you'd better put this on" He held up the invisibility cloak and James took it. He wrapped it around himself and vanished from view.

He heard James walking into the hallway and began to follow him, but turned quickly and walked back to his desk to his desk. He took out his wand and tapped the map lightly.

"Mischief managed," he said, feeling the happiest he had in the past twelve years.

(Dumbledore's Office)-

"Now Harry, you're supposed to be in the Hospital Wing. I ask that you return or Poppy will be furious with me for allowing her patient to wander the castle. Sirius, please accompany him, but lie low until news reaches the papers tomorrow," said Dumbledore.

"But you still didn't explain how they got Wormtail," said Harry.

"All in good time," he said, standing up.

Realizing that the conversation was over, Harry stood up. Sirius gave a nod to Dumbledore and transformed into Padfoot. Harry opened the door and left, Sirius padding along at his heels.

About ten minutes later, by the time Harry and Sirius were already up in the Hospital Wing, Dumbledore's next visitors arrived.

Remus and James walked toward the stone gargoyle, James still safely hidden under his trusty cloak. They reached the gargoyle and James said "Ice Mice"

"How'd you know the password?" asked Remus as the gargoyle sprang to life and jumped aside.

"Guessed it before," James replied proudly as he began to climb the marble staircase. They reached the top and James pulled off the cloak and knocked lightly on the door.

Dumbledore opened the door and motioned for tem to enter.

"Ah, it's you two. I see Remus has already received his surprise," he said as Remus nodded his head, "I thought it might be Harry here to try to badger more answers out of me" He closed the door behind him and moved across the room.

"So what brings you two up here?" he asked, taking a seat back at his desk.

"We were wondering if you'd heard any news about Sirius's trial," replied James, taking a seat across from Dumbledore.

"Yes, it seems your friend has been cleared of all charges," he replied, his eyes twinkling at the looks on the faces of the two men.

"And Peter?" Remus asked anxiouslty.

"Last I heard he was in a cell in Azkaban," he said calmly, though he felt about as happy as they did that Sirius could be free.

"Does…does Sirius know yet?" he said, glancing over at James.

"N-no…I haven't had chance to speak to him yet. Could I maybe…tonight?" he asked, looking expectantly up at Dumbledore.

"I think that can be arranged, and what about Harry?" he asked.

At this James looked a bit started, "N-no I'll tell him tomorrow…I'm not quit ready to face him just yet," he replied.

In truth he was a bit worried about confronting his son. What if Harry didn't like him…what if he wished he'd never come back in the first place…

"OK then, come to my office tonight at 8:00, wear your cloak, and knock on the door three times so I'll know that it's you. Now gentlemen, if that is all, I'll see you tonight."

The two of them nodded and walked toward the door. James disappeared under the cloak and headed back toward Remus's office to wait out the two hours before he would confront Sirius. Remus told him he'd be there in a moment and rushed off to the Hospital Wing to congratulate Sirius on winning the trial.

**OK quick question-answering session…**

**Marguerida-I'm glad you liked Remus's faint-free reaction**

**Barbossa'sApples-All in good time, I'm trying to take**

**fille-chica143-Well I'll try not to make it too fluffy but there has to be some emotion. I mean James was dead and is now alive, rejoice!**

**deni1073-Oh, sorry if I mixed the date up. James is dead for 12 years, I just get confused and put 14 because that's what it'd be if I did this from the fifth book.**

**OK thanks to everyone who read! I know my chapters are a little on the short side but I try to update twice a week to make up for it! Anyways,feel free to review and I'll try to get the next one up soon!**


	9. Confronting Padfoot

**Here we go again, second review in a week! Like I said, your reviews make me wanna write more, so a big thanks to Kilikapele, Kim **K**otchanski, abay, Marguerida, Curalium Lacrimo, amrawo, Barbossa'sApples, BabeBunny, Eric2, you guys rock! OK on with the fic!**

(Remus's Office)-

James entered Remus's office and sat down behind his desks. He amused himself for a bit by placing Remus's grindylow on a chair in front of him and putting Remus's reading glasses on the tip of his nose in a sort of mock imitation of a professor.

"Class, please open your books to page fourteen," he said to the grindylow in a falsely stern tone as he put his feet up on the desk. He continued to amuse himself in this way until Remus entered a few minutes later and almost fell over laughing. James blushed and set the glasses back on the desk.

"Having fun?" asked Remus when he had finally stopped laughing at his friend's antics.

"I was until I was so rudely interrupted," James joked.

Remus just gave him an amused look, "Well if I ever need someone to educate my grindylows I know who to call"

"So, is Sirius happy?" asked James, trying to steer the conversation in a different direction.

"Very, in fact the minute I entered the room he pounced on me. As Padfoot of course, then he transformed back and began babbling inaudibly about the trial. I'd say he's rather happy about it," he replied.

"That's good," James said, then he paused before he continued, "how do you think he'll react tonight?"

Remus looked at his friend, he had waited for this to come up, James was bound to feel a bit nervous about Sirius's reaction.

"I think he'll be a bit surprised, but in all I'm sure he'll be happy," then as an afterthought he added, "happier than he is right now in fact, and that's saying something."

At these words James seemed to brighten a little, "Exactly how long until we go back to Dumbledore's office?"

Remus grinned and looked at his watch, "Exactly 97 minutes James"

"That's…"

"About an hour and a half"

"Oh"

(Hospital Wing)-

"So, what did Professor Lupin want?" Hermione, who was sitting in the bed next to Harry's, asked as Sirius padded over to his bed in his animagus form. The four of them had been the only people in the Hospital Wing so they'd talked to Sirius all morning.

Sirius transformed and sat on the edge of Harry's bed.

"He came by to congratulate me and tell me Dumbledore wants to see me tonight at 8:00"

"Why does he want to see you?" Harry asked.

"I don't know, Remus wouldn't say. It may have been because I was trying to tell him about the trial. Say did I tell you about it Harry?"

Harry rolled his eyes; he had listened to Sirius recap the trial about seven times. "Yeah, I think you may have mentioned it"

"Mentioned it huh?...Well I'll just give you the full story now then!" he said, and with that he was off on an explanation of the trial once again.

Harry sighed in annoyance and leaned back into the pillow, Sirius was very happy about being freed, but he had a shrewd suspicion his story was a bit exaggerated. Especially the part about him hexing Fudge on his way out and turning him into a giant toad.

(Outside Dumbledore's office, meeting time)-

James and Remus stood outside Dumbledore's office, James under the cloak. Dumbledore had told Remus to come along and watch the reunion between his two best friends. The two of them had planned James appearance so that it would shock Sirius, which was why James was under his cloak.

Remus reached up and knocked on the door three times like Dumbledore had told him to. He assumed it was so he would know if it was them or Sirius who would arrive first.

"Come in," came Dumbledore's voice from the other side of the door.

Remus opened the door and stepped into the office, where Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, watching them behind his half moon spectacles. It appeared that he and James had arrived before Sirius, which Remus was thankful for.

"I assume James is with you?" asked Dumbledore.

"Yes, he's under the cloak," Remus replied, "we actually kind of planned a sort of…dramatic entrance for James, if you wouldn't mind…"

"Say no more, I shall leave this little reunion completely up to you two. I will be here to convince Sirius when he doubts it," Dumbledore said.

James and Remus were going over their plans one last time when there was a knock on the door. James and Remus exchanged nods (well James did, to Remus it looked like he nodded to thin air) and James moved away to a corner so no one would bump into him.

"Come in,("Does he always say that to his guests?" thought Remus)" said Dumbledore.

Sirius walked into the room and looked around, his eyes landing on Remus.

"Hey Remus, what are you doing here?" he asked, he then turned to Dumbledore, "why exactly are we here?"

"Sirius, you may want to sit down," Remus replied.

**Alright time to end this with question answering!**

**Kilikapele-Yes, he did return the hug, he was just a bit surprised about his friends sudden reaction.**

**Marguerida-No, I'm trying to get James through his introductions right now, since everyone's really waiting for some Harry/James time. Anyways I'm not so sure about 13 years. In the book it says Sirius was in Azkaban for 12 years, Peter was dead for twelve tears, etc. So since Sirius was captured the same night Lily and James died, and this takes place at the exact same time as the books, I'd assume it was twelve years, but hey, I could be wrong.**

**Barbossa'sApples-Harry's coming soon, after Sirius. In case you didn't botice already, I'm taking this really slow.**

**OK and my closer: Thanks for reading, feel free to leave a review and I'll get the next one up soom!**


	10. A Shock For Sirius

**I seem to have skipped this chapter. That's what happens when I write two at once! I'm surprised you guys didn't notice that big gap in the story. I'll just add this on now.**

(Dumbledore's Office)-

James watched as Sirius entered the office. James gulped; he had hoped the way Sirius had looked in the shack had been his imagination, a trick of light perhaps. But now looking at his friend he looked the same, if not worse, than when he had last seen him. And his eyes, those same eyes that seemed to sparkle with mischief, looked so pained, so…so haunted.

He watched as Sirius obediently sat in one of the available chairs and looked from Remus to Dumbledore, a nervous expression on his face. He stood up quickly, forgetting that Remus had asked him to sit not two seconds ago.

"This isn't about my t-" he started, but he was cut off by Dumbledore.

"No, all is fine; you are still a free man. There is just something that you need to see, and I think you might find it quite enjoyable"

Sirius raised an eyebrow at this, "What is it?"

"Remus" said Dumbledore, motioning for Remus to get on with whatever he had planned.

"Remus is what I came here to see?" Sirius asked jokingly.

"No Sirius, you idiot, I'm going to tell you what it is!" Remus sighed and took a step toward Sirius.

Though Sirius could tell Remus was trying to be serious, he could see the faintest trace of a smile on his friend's lips. He relaxed a bit; this was good news.

"Well Sirius, there's this person whom you haven't seen in quit a while…but if you want to see them you have to say 'Abra Kadabra'!" Remus joked, Sirius had always been annoyed at uggle attempts to make up spells.

Sirius rolled his eyes in annoyance, "Oh please Remus, those are muggle magic words, they don't do anything! Who's the surprise guest anyway?" Who would want to see a convicted murderer anyway? News about his earlier trial hadn't yet reached the papers, though it would probably be the front page story tomorrow morning.

"Say it Sirius," said Remus in a mockingly stern voice, "It's the only spell that'll work"

James sniggered from his place in the corner, though Sirius was too busy listening to Remus to notice. It had been James's idea to use 'Abra Kadabra', though it worried him that those words sounded so much like 'Avada Kadavra'. One was a harmless muggle creation, the other the most deadly curse that was ever cast…

James's thoughts were interrupted by Sirius's agitated reply.

"Do I have to Remus"

"Yes"

Sirius sighed exasperatedly, but curiosity was getting the best of him so he gave in, "Abra Kadabra"

James was ready, this was his cue. Taking a deep breathe, he yanked the cloth off of himself, though the effect was somewhat ruined when his foot snagged the cloak and he stumbled to the ground. He stood up and brushed himself up, so much for his entrance. He looked up.

For a moment the whole world seemed to stand still. The silence in the room was deafening as Sirius simply stared at him, a bewildered, shocked expression on his pale face.

Suddenly, he slumped back into the chair. For a moment Remus thought he had fainted, but when he looked at him his eyes were still open, shocked expression still on his face.

He spoke, well at least he tried, what came out sounded more like a choked sob.

"Don't sound so happy to see me," James joked. He realized Sirius probably wasn't in any condition to retort, but it just seemed the thing to do.

Sirius seemed to use all his strength just to talk as his eyes became glazed over with tears, "You're not…you can't be…" he paused and took a deep, shaky breathe, "You're dead"

"Aw, don't get all emotional on me now Padfoot! Thought you were too tough to cry," James replied, unaffected by his friend's condition.

James could tell Sirius thought he was dreaming, there was something in his eyes that told him. Something in those deadened eyes…

Sirius looked to Dumbledore with watery eyes, as though pleading with him to tell him otherwise. To tell him he wasn't dreaming, that his friend was really standing before him…his dead fiend, James Potter.

James sighed, this was going nowhere fast. People were just being so sappy and emotional today. Deciding to use the same, effective tactic he had used on Remus, James transformed.

If he thought the silence was unbearable before, it was nothing compared to that moment. James squeezed his eyes shut and took a breath, waiting for his friend's response. He suddenly felt something heavy hit him, and he crashed to the floor, legs failing madly under his sudden attack.

James looked up into to eyes of an enormous, shaggy black dog. It wagged its tail madly, paws planted firmly on the stag's chest as if to make sure it was real. Suddenly a man took the place of the dog and he straightened up and looked at James, who had taken the place of the stag.

James straightened up too, a bit shaken from his unexpected trip to the floor. He looked at Sirius, who still looked a bit doubtful, but happy nonetheless.

"Prongs," he said a mixture of an exclamation and a question from what James could tell. James smiled inwardly, Prongs gets 'em every time.


	11. Filling James In

**Whew! New update, I was gonna post it yesterday but that was a littletoo soon. Heh, just call this quick update a mixture my conscience for leaving you on a cliffie and all of the reviews telling me to update! **

**Thanks to Insanity-of-the-owl, Lord Hoang, Kilikapele, Eric2, padfootqueen, amrawo, Marguerida, Kim Kotchanski, BabeBunny, Ingrid-Potter, Barbossa'sApples, and ShOrTnSwEeT9013 for your reviews! Next chapter. **

(Hospital Wing)-

What did Dumbledore want Sirius for?" asked Hermione a few minutes after Sirius had left the room.

"I don't know he said no one gave him the reason," he said nervously, "what if something happened with Peter…or his freedom or…

"Harry relax, I'm sure Sirius is fine. Dumbledore probably just wants to congratulate him.

"Yeah…yeah, I guess you're right," he replied, but he was far from convinced. Dumbledore had already congratulated him, and besides, he could just come to the Hospital Wing to do that. No, this was something big, he just didn't know what.

(Dumbledore's Office)-

"James…James how?" Sirius stammered disbelievingly. James was almost positive he saw a change in Sirius's eyes. They still looked haunted just…less so. Like a fog had lifted behind his eyes.

"Is that going to be everyone's reaction?" he said sarcastically.

"I have a theory," said Dumbledore as he stood up from his desk and walked over to where the two men were standing, "You described the curse Voldemort used on you, and it sounds like the Ingentanos curse on you. It's a very powerful curse and not often used. It's basically a mixture between Crutacious and Avada Kadavra, the main difference being that the spell takes about a minute to go into effect. Now, you said you were in your animagus form when the spell took effect did you not?"

James thought for a moment and replied, "Yes, I was halfway across the hall when I felt it start"

"Well this is my theory then: because the spell is meant for humans and you were not human at the time, the spell got screwed up"

"But I thought I was dead for 12 years?" he said.

"I'm not sure why that is but I imagine you awoke in your animagus form?" Dumbledore replied.

James thought back to that night, "Yes, I did wake up as Prongs"

Sirius looked at James, "Never thought us becoming illegal animagus would someday save our lives!" said Sirius, apparently getting used to the fact that this was really his friend.

"Yeah, all three of us unfortunately. It's too bad Peter learned how to do it," he replied bitterly.

"Well you didn't know at the time," Remus piped up, "you just did it to help me.

"Yep!" said Sirius, then he turned to James, "You haven't told Harry yet"

James could tell this was more of a statement than a question, "No, I'm going to…tomorrow."

Sirius nodded in understanding.

"Well maybe you gentlemen would like to get some rest?" asked Dumbledore.

"No!" all three said in unison.

"Professor you can't be serious! I just found out my best friend is alive and you want me to sleep!"

"Alright, alright," said Dumbledore, "but Sirius, make sure you get back to the Hospital Wing before morning or young Harry will be banging down my door looking for his godfather."

Sirius nodded and the three of them made their way to Remus's office, James once again concealed under his cloak.

"So what the heck happened while I was err…deceased? Why exactly were you in Azkaban Sirius?" James asked, but he already knew the answer. Everyone had thought Sirius had been his secret keeper.

"Oh come on James, you know very well everyone thought I was the secret keeper," Sirius said.

"Yes, but when they used the Veritaserum-"

"They never did, I didn't get a trial"

"What? Why not?" James said. He'd never heard of the Ministry sending someone to Azkaban without a trial.

"Well apparently I was mad," said Sirius angrily, "no one knew Pettigrew was secret keeper, but you, me, Lily and him. Well, as you can imagine I was too angry to think clearly so I went after him myself-"

"Idiot," James mumbled.

Sirius cleared his throat, "Anyway, I had him cornered, I was pretty sure I had won. But Pettigrew showed more brains then I'd ever thought. He shouted about how I betrayed you and then blew the street apart. He cut off his finger and sped down the sewer with the other rats. Three guesses who was standing there with there wand pointed at the spot where Peter had been standing."

James just stared at Sirius. How could his friend have been dumb enough to go after Peter instead of explaining it to someone?

"Don't look at me like that James. I'm free now aren't I?" said Sirius when he saw the look on his friend's face.

James shook his head. "Y-yeah…I guess so," he said, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

The three of them reached the office and stepped inside. They spent the entire night talking and catching James up on everything that had happened.

Finally, when it was around 3:00AM, Sirius bade his friends goodnight and slipped out of the office. He made his way to the Hospital Wing, humming softly to himself. He couldn't remember the last time he had been this happy.

He transformed and padded into the hospital wing. He hopped onto the foot of Harry's bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

The next morning he felt himself being shaken awake and heard his godson shouting "Sirius! Sirius!"

He opened his eyes groggily and stared up at his godson, who was waving _The Daily Prophet _in his face excitedly.

"Sirius! Read the front page!" Harry said excitedly upon reaizing his godfather was awake.

He transformed and took the newspaper from his godson. The front page read:

**Sirius Black: Mass murderer…or not**

**Everyone knows the story of Sirius Black, the madman convicted of the murder of Lily and James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, and twelve innocent muggles and the first ever Azkaban escapee. Or at least everyone thinks they know the story. Yesterday, at precisely 3:00pm, Black was captured by Ministry officials and put on trial. The reason was the discovery of Peter Petigrew, an illegal animagus with the form of a rat, who was thought to have been killed by Black. The evidence showed that it was, in fact, not Black who was the Potter's secret keeper, but Pettigrew. He also appears to be the one behind the killing of the muggle bystanders. Black was cleared of all charges and Pettigrew was locked up in Azkaban for life. Perhaps next time the Ministry will put their murderers on trial.**

Harry watched Sirius eagerly as he read the article. When Sirius reached the part of being captured he snorted. ("Captured? I was unconscious on the floor of Dummbledore's office!)

He finished the article happily, now everyone would know the truth. The word was bound to spread, even to those who didn't read the Prophet. He was finally a free man.

**OK there you have it. I was debating whether to put the newspaper article in this chapter or the next one, but I decided to toss it in here and make a slightly longer chapter. And look, no cliffie this time! OK question time:**

**Kilikapele-Heh, glad you like the cliffhangers. It's not like I kill you for too long! I always update very quickly after I do one.**

**Marguerida-Well whatever, you say 13, I'll say 12 and let's stop this before it grows into a full blown argument, Kay.**

**OK and: Thanks for reading, feel free to review and I'll get the next one up soon!**


	12. A Meeting With Harry

**Sorry the update took a bit longer than usual. I wasn't really in a writing mood this week and I was really busy on my favorite Harry Potter forums. Plus this is going to be one of the hardest chapters for me to write. **

**Well before I begin lemme thank scared-of-mimes, Barbossa'sApples, Ingrid-Potter, amrawo, Skylaguna1890, Stars Enchantress, Eric2, Joou Himeko Dah, Kilikapele, Spiorad, Lord Hoang, irishchic799, gohan/videlgoten/trunkslover, Jesse-Nicolas-Night, and Marguerida for their reviews!**

(Lupin's Office)-

James woke up from the chair he had been sleeping in. He hoped he could use a bed soon; this was murder on his back. He took a deep breathe. This was it; he would have to confront Harry today. The summer holidays were coming if he wanted Harry to come stay with him he'd have to actually meet him first. That is…if Harry would even want to live with him…

He, Sirius and Remus had set it all up. Sirius would get Harry to go to Remus's office first thing in the morning and then he would meet James. It all seemed so simple that way…but he knew it would be much harder, especially for Harry. Well time to sit back and wait for his son.

(Hospital Wing)-

Sirius walked toward Harry's bed, this was going to be both exciting and terrifying for the poor kid. After all, he himself would be terrified if his dead parents came back to life. But, of course, he hated his parents with a passion so he'd just be praying that they'd drop dead again anyway.

But he knew Harry had always wanted to meet James, and this was his chance. James was terrified, but Sirius felt confident Harry would warm up to him after he got over the initial shock of seeing his dead father. After all, he was already warmed up to Sirius, who was a convicted murderer at the time they had met.

He walked over to the bed and gently shook Harry awake. It took a good two minutes before Harry stirred, then opened his eyes.

"S-Sirius," Harry asked when he saw his godfather standing over him.

"Harry wake up, there's something important I have to tell you," he said

"What is it Sirius?" Harry shot up into a sitting position. This had to be about whatever Dumbledore had said last night, and Sirius didn't seem all to calm about it.

"I can't tell you here. Get dressed and come down to Remus's office when you're ready. I'll wait for you there," he said, and with that he left.

Sirius hurried down the hall to Remus's office, not bothering to use his dog form since most of the children were at breakfast and he was a free man anyway.

He slid around the corner and ran toward the office. He didn't know why he was running, just a habit you get when you've been on the run he supposed. He reached the door and stood in front of it. He knew James was waiting anxiously on the other side, and he had to make sure he gave Harry a little warning before he let him in.

He was broken out of his thoughts by the sound of footsteps walking in his direction. Harry rounded the corner and stood there, looking about as nervous as James did.

Sirius didn't understand, how could Harry be nervous, he didn't know what was going on. He assumed Harry thought something bad had happened last night. Sirius smiled inwardly, how wrong he was.

"I'm here Sirius, now what's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing's wrong Harry," he replied, "I just have to show you something…someone."

"Someone? Who?" he asked, obviously confused.

"Well someone that you're going to be surprised to meet. But it's really them, don't think it's a joke or anything…" he said, drifting off a bit at the end.

Now Harry was very confused with his godfather's behavior. Who was so surprising to meet that he wouldn't believe it? He saw Sirius pull the door open and motion for him to go in.

Harry stepped into the familiar office and froze. It was as if he was looking in the mirror, except for two differences. This man had hazel eyes, no scar, and was a bit taller. Harry simply stared; he knew he was looking into the hazel eyes of his father, his dead father.

There was a long pause. The father and son simply sat there and stared at each other, neither daring to say anything. They stayed like that for a good five minutes before Sirius walked into the room.

"Oh get on with it already!" he said, shutting the door behind him.

Harry turned to Sirius now, "Who is this?"

"It's Roger Rabbit. Who does it look like?" Sirius joked, oblivious to the fact that this wasn't the time or place for wise cracks.

"Sirius, my father is…dead," said Harry, tears welling up in his eyes, though secretly he was thinking about the person who had cast the Patronus earlier by the lake. The person who he had thought to be his dad…

Sirius was awkward now, he should have known Harry wouldn't accept this so easily.

"Well he was but Voldemort had a mix up when he was killing him so…he's back." He said, beginning to fidget nervously.

"Sirius, it's impossible!" he shouted, "it's some sort of trick!"

"No Harry…"

James watched their conversation nervously. He knew he should probably step in but he didn't know what to say. His son obviously didn't believe it was him, what could he do? He decided to just sit tight and wait.

"Sirius, it's probably Peter in disguise! He's probably trying to fool you all and look, he's succeeded!" said Harry exasperatedly

"Harry, Peter is in Azkaban, there's no way he's broken out or it would have been in the papers," he said.

Harry stared at Sirius like he was insane. "You ca honestly say you think this is my father? How thick are you, it's probably a death eater in disguise!"

"Harry there's more than enough proof…"

"Proof? What proof?" said Harry who was obviously getting annoyed. This man was pretending to be his father and Sirius actually BELIEVED him!

"Sit down, I'll show you," said Sirius calmly

**Hope that wasn't disappointing to you guys! The other half of the meeting is coming next chapter so keep reading! Let me answer questions now…**

**Ingrid-Potter-He does want to meet Harry, but he's still meeting Remus and Sirius. Also, in the back of his mind he's terrified that Harry won't want him to be alive, so he's not as eager to meet him as he should be.**

**Skylaguna1890-I know, I try to catch as many mistakes as I can but I don't get them all. Also some I notice but leave there because they sound alright to me, even though the Grammar check points them out. Thanks for the offer, but no thanks. I know there are mistakes, but I like putting my chapters p the second I finish writing them. Thanks anyways though.**

**Eric2-You'll have to wait and see where Harry goes to live this summer.**

**Spiorad-I know the chapters are a bit short but I update quickly to make up for it. Also, this is the length I like to write, a little at a time. This is about 3 pages on my word processor after all.**

**Lord Hoang-What are you talking about? The second and third chapters aren't the same.**

**Marguerida-No problem, just figured it seemed like a pointless thing to argue about.**

**Well here I go again: Thanks for reading, feel free to leave a review and I'll get the next one up soon!**


	13. A Meeting with Harry: part 2

**OK here's yet another chapter. A big thanks to Marguerida, Kilikapele, misfit2008, Barbossa'sApples, Black Feline, Spiorad, Jesse-Nicolas-Night, Eric2, amrawo, BabeBunny, Joou Himeko Dah, Angelic Prefect, Kim Kotchanski and fille-chica143! Enjoy!**

(Lupin's Office)-

Harry sighed in annoyance but obediently sat down, making sure to sit on the opposite side of the couch from James. James could only stare, his son didn't believe it was him and all he could do was sit there silently.

Sirius pulled out a bit of parchment, he had known Harry would need convincing so he'd made sure to bring along some evidence. He tapped the map with his wand ands said, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good". At once, ink began to spread across the parchment, forming the familiar map of Hogwarts.

Harry looked at Sirius, obviously confused with what the map had to do with anything. Then a look of dawning comprehension crossed his face as he realized what Sirius was going to show him. Sirius handed him the map and he skimmed the battered old parchment. His eyes fixed on the dot on his right, the dot that read 'James Potter'. He knew that you couldn't trick the map, but he still refused to admit that this could possibly be his father. He knew it couldn't.

"There must be someway to trick the map," he said, handing the parchment back to Sirius.

Sirius sighed, boy this kid was stubborn. "Alright then Harry, I'll show you some evidence that's fool proof. Or rather, James here will," he stated

Harry glared at James, he still wasn't convinced. James knew what Sirius wanted him to do, it had worked so far, why not try it again. He stood up and transformed into Prongs, the same way he had to convince both Sirius and Remus.

Harry stared, this wasn't right. He knew his father's animagus form was a stag, Sirius had told him. He also knew that no one else could transform into Prongs. But how could he be sure this stag was Prongs when he had never seen it before?

"How do I know this is really him," Harry asked, though his voice showed that he was clearly astonished.

"You think I wouldn't know? I saw him transform hundreds of times! Harry, this is your father. Dumbledore tried spells, we checked the map, he can transform into Prongs, and he knows all of the Marauders nicknames! There's enough evidence for us to be certain," he said, realizing he had finally convinced his godson.

"B-but how?" Harry stammered as the stag disappeared and his father once again stood in its place.

"Dumbledore will explain that one to you, but right now it's not important!" James finally spoke up. He was really excited that his son had been convinced so easily, he would have thought it would be much harder.

Harry looked back and forth from Sirius to James. He didn't know how was it possible that two days ago he'd had no one he could call family, save for the Dursleys who were less than loving, and he now had a father and a godfather. It was so impossible; he thought he would never have anybody.

He stared at his dad, he had never even met the man, yet he had a strange desire to run over and hug him. Deciding he might as well, he ran over and hugged his father, then jumped back to see his father's reaction. He was happy when his father returned the hug and smiled.

"Dad…" he started, but realized he had no clue what to say. This was all so awkward. He just stared at his father, every topic to start a conversation left his mind.

"So…nice weather we're having," James said, realizing how stupid he sounded.

"Are you kidding me? Nice weather? Really James, you two get on with the father son bonding, I'm going to leave you alone," and with that Sirius left the room.

James shook his head, "That man could make a wise crack at a funeral"

Harry smiled at this, and James was glad to see it. Maybe he wouldn't be so bad at starting a conversation after all.

"He's always like that? I thought that was just his was of showing anxiety," Harry replied happily.

"Nope, that's his way of dealing with every emotion," Harry obviously didn't know Sirius very well. But then again he'd only just met him two days ago. Obviously Harry had been staying at the Dursleys. They were horrible people too, James had no doubt they had been less than welcoming. But that didn't matter anymore, Harry would live with him, and then he would make sure Harry would never have to think about those muggles ever again.

Harry filled James in on everything that had happened during his first three years at Hogwarts. James was amazed at these tales and he wondered if they were a bit exaggerated. Harry claimed to have killed a basilisk in his second year. He'd have to ask Dumbledore what had really happened.

He could tell that the general ideas of the stories were true, and he was amazed at what a brave and strong person Harry was. He had already faced Voldemort twice during his school years from what James could tell but, because of the prophecy, he would probably face him many more time. But now, James could be there to help him through it. He wondered if Dumbledore had even told Harry the prophecy. He hoped not, he and Lily were hoping to wait until he was old enough to handle it.

He shook his head as he felt his eyes burn with tears, he had been trying not to think about Lily ever since he'd gotten to Hogwarts, the subject was too painful for him right now.

He felt like he wanted to be alone right now and it was getting late anyway. He send a protesting Harry back to his common room for the night (Madame Promfrey had let him leave the Hospital Wing earlier that morning) and stood up.

He walked toward the Hospital Wing, he would be able to sleep there on one of the beds now since he wasn't keeping a secret from his son. His son…Harry seemed like such a great kid, despite his upbringing. Then again, the Dursleys probably didn't treat him fairly; James was never letting him go back to those muggles again.

He reached the door of the Hospital and peered inside. It was empty, save for a large black dog that was asleep on one of he beds. James wondered why in the world Sirius was still sleeping as Padfoot when he didn't have to.

He shrugged; he supposed old habits died hard. He crawled into the bed next the bed next to the one Sirius was curled up on. It felt so good to be lying on a proper bed that he fell asleep before his head hit the pillow.

**Hope you liked this half of Harry's reaction too! OK questions and comments…**

**Marguerida- Heh, and I won't either shakes hand deal. Glad you liked Harry's reaction**

**Kilikapele- Well I figured why do it slowly and painfully when you can do it all at once? Well glad you liked it!**

**Black Feline- Oh, I didn't even realize I did that! Let's just say he fell back asleep shall we? **

**Well my catchphrase ender thingy: Thanks for reading, feel free to leave a review and I'll get the next one up soon!**


	14. Not a Dream

**OK sorry this one took so long, my computer's been giving me trouble…again. But its working alright now AND I'm on spring break unil next week, so the next one should be up quicker. **

**A big thanks to Joou Himeko Dah, BabeBunny, Kilikapele, Eric2, Barbossa'sApples, amrawo, enitsirk, padfootqueen, Xylia Dark and Kim Kotchanski, your reviews are much appreciated! OK, onward!**

(Gryffindor common room-Third year boys' dorm)-

Harry woke up the next morning feeling very rested. He still felt a bit tired so he simply rolled over in his sleep, not bothering to even open his eyes. He tried to remember why he felt so happy this morning but he couldn't quit place it. Then suddenly he remembered, James, his _father._

He wondered if it had really even happened. Had it all been a wonderful dream? He opened his eyes, hoping for all he was worth that it wasn't. It had been a wonderful experience. He realized he wasn't in the Hospital Wing, as he had expected, but back in his dormitory.

He smiled happily to himself, it had been real, yesterday had really happened. He sighed contently and stared up at the ceiling, he would have to go visit his dad later on.

"Harry?" he heard someone call his name and peered over the side of his bed. Ron was standing there looking very concerned.

Harry had left the Hospital Wing yesterday without telling him or Hermione and they hadn't seen him all day. They were worried about what had happened, and had waited for him in the common room until it got late. Finally, they sighed and turned in for the night, hoping he would be back in the morning. Ron was relived to see him lying in his bed looking perfectly fine.

"Hey Ron," he said, sitting up in his bed and stretching.

"Where were you yesterday?" he asked, "you had me and Hermione scared to death.

"Aw, I didn't know you cared," Harry said jokingly, smiling as he hopped out of the bed,

"What are you so happy about?" he asked, obviously confused, he knew Harry was happy about Sirius being free, but when he started humming 'It's a Small World', Ron knew something was up.

"Oh, just something that happened yesterday," he said, continuing to hum while he changed into his robes.

Now Ron was curios, what had happened yesterday to make his friend so happy? "What's that?" he asked.

Harry seemed to think about his answer for a moment before he replied, "I'll tell you after we have breakfast and meet up with Hermione. Let's go, I'm starving"

Ron nodded and followed Harry down into the common room. People were beginning to pack up their belongings that were lying around. After all, summer break was in six days. Ron wondered if Harry would be able to go home with him, he knew he hated staying with those muggles. He'd ask his mum about it later.

They met up with Hermione at the Gryffindor table and she was just as relieved as Ron was to see Harry. While they all ate their breakfast, Harry looked over to the staff table and noticed that Snape was glaring at Remus with as much hatred as ever.

"Looks like Snape still hasn't warmed up to Professor Lupin," said Harry.

"Yeah, especially after he stunned him two nights ago," Hermione replied.

For the first time, Harry wondered what had happened after he had passed out that night. Then he remembered how he had seen his father casting the Patronus. He assumed he'd brought all of them back to the castle and explained everything to Dumbledore. Harry wondered if he'd caught Peter too.

As if she had read Harry's mind Hermione said, "What do you think happened that night anyway?"

"I have an idea," Harry replied, but he didn't say anything more about it and they finished their breakfast in silence. After they had finished the three of them went up to the common room, Hermione and Ron demanding to know what had happened yesterday.

"Alright, alright already! Sit down and I'll tell you!" Harry said, amused at how much his friends were pestering him, but not at all angry. Nothing would ruin his good mood today.

He paused for a moment until Hermione said "Well?" in her bossiest voice.

Harry sighed and began, "Well you see, Sirius woke me up yesterday and told me he had to tell me something important. He asked me to meet him at Remus's office so we wouldn't be overheard and left. I met him downstairs a few minutes later and he said there was someone I needed to see…" Harry stopped; he wanted to torture his friends with a dramatic pause.

"Who?" Ron said anxiously.

"Well…my…my dad…" Harry said, bracing himself for the looks they were about to give him. Sure enough, they were both staring at him like he had three heads.

"Harry…your dad…is…well…he's dead," Hermione said quietly. Had Harry finally lost it?

"No he isn't Hermione he's here! Here's proof too. His name shows up on the map, he can transform into a stag, and Dumbledore's run all sorts of tests from what Sirius has told me. It's really him," he said.

When Hermione and Ron simply stared at him, as if wondering whether he was telling the truth or had gone mad, Harry pulled out the map and activated it.

"Here see for yourselves," he said, offering them the piece of parchment, "he said he was staying in the Hospital Wing so he should be in there"

Ron took the parchment from Harry and scanned it. His eyes fell on the little dot labeled 'James Potter' that was in the Hospital Wing. His eyes grew wide and he dropped he map.

"Harry! How-" Ron began, but he was cut of by Harry.

"I don't know, but I met him yesterday. He said Voldemort had never really killed him! I'm going to go see him again, you can come if you want," he said.

Ron simply nodded and Hermione picked up the map and scanned it. She reacted the same way Ron had.

It made no sense, how could someone come back from the dead? Hermione was thinking the matter over when Harry and Ron stood up to leave. She followed them, she had to see this for herself.

**OK, pretty uneventful, next chapter we head to the Ministry though. Well, hope you liked it, I'll will now be taking your questions. :P**

**BabeBunny: I figured that Harry would want to hug his dad right away. I mean, it is his father…**

**Hmm…not many comments this time, well I'll end with the usual: Thanks for reading, feel free to leave a review and I'll get the next one up soon. You should be seeing that in you sleep by now! Well, that's all folks! **


	15. Spreading the News

**Alright sorry this one took so long, I've been very busy this week! **

**I want to thank Spiorad, Joou Himeko Dah, Kim Kotchanski, enitsirk, padfootqueen, volleypickle16, and Sima for your reviews! You guys are the best!**

(Hogwarts-Corridor)-

Hermione and Ron followed Harry, who had an unusual spring in his step, down the hall to the hospital wing. The kept exchanging glances behind his back, Harry was acting just plain odd, they had never seen their friend this happy. Could this mean what he had told them was true. They reached the door and walked into the wing. There was one student in the wing and two beds in the back of the room with the curtains shut around them.

Harry looked at the student; the girl appeared to have sprouted large tusks. She appeared to be asleep, so Harry crept to the two beds in the back of the room, which he assumed wee his father's and Sirius's. However when he drew back the curtains he found both beds to be empty. Hermione and Ron exchanged glances, the beds were empty; perhaps Harry _had _imagined it.

He walked over to Madame Promfrey, wondering where his father and godfather had gone.

"Madame Promfrey, where did Sirius and my dad go?" he asked.

The nurse turned to him and replied, "They had a few errands to run and left earlier with Professor Dumbledore. They should be back later on this evening"

Harry sighed; he had really been looking forward to seeing his new guardians again. He motioned for his friends to follow him, and he left the wing with a very shocked Hermione and Ron following after him. They had heard it from more than one source now, James really had returned.

(Ministry of Magic)-

Dumbledore had insisted they go to the Ministry that morning and have James revealed. Sirius and James were both planning on getting their jobs as aurors back. After some thought they had also decided to register themselves as animagi, as it would make it much safer for them to transform. Things were definitely going well for them right now, James had been astounded when Dumbledore had told him that all of Harry's adventures had been real, and James was determined to be there for his son so things would look up for him too.

They stepped out of the fire and had their wands weighed, then they headed to the office of the Minister, as Dumbledore had made an appointment to see him beforehand. As they stepped onto the lift James began to feel a bit nervous. He hoped this task wouldn't be too hard to accomplish.

The lift creaked and rattled as it made its way up to the top floor of the Ministry, the floor of the Minister's office. James wondered if Fudge was still the Minister, he had been before he had 'died' but that had been a while ago. The lift creaked to a halt and James saw the sign on the door read 'Minister Fudge'.

"Answers that question," James thought to himself as he stepped off of the lift.

Dumbledore knocked on the door and a few moments later a voice said "Come in".

The three men stepped into the office and watched as Fudge shuffled through some papers on his desk.

"Why did you wish to see me Dumbledore," he said, not bothering to look up as he spoke.

Dumbledore answered calmly, "I am not the one who needed to see you Cornelius, James Potter here is the one who needed to talk to you"

Fudge looked up at Dumbledore, looking as if he was about to question the man's sanity, but he paled and closed his mouth when he saw James standing on Dumbledore's right.

"Who-who," he sputtered, loosing his composure for a moment at the shock of seeing the 'dead' man.

"Yes, James Potter, long story really, but if you would be willing to listen I'd be happy to-" Dumbledore began, but fudge cut him off mid-sentence.

"Come now Dumbledore, you cannot honestly believe that this man I really James Potter. James Potter had been dead for twelve years," said Fudge, regaining his calm manner.

"If you do not believe it, surely the Ministry has ways of checking people's identities," said Dumbledore.

"Of course we do," said Fudge, looking as if Dumbledore had just insulted him, "but-"

Now it was Dumbledore's turn to cut Fudge off, "Then submit him to one of your tests, I daresay he won't mind. Will you James?"

"No Professor," said James, who was currently examining his shoes.

Fudge simply turned red, but he choked out, "Fine" and motioned for James to step up to his desk. Finally, after submitting him to tests much like the ones Dumbledore had used, Fudge's anger turned to astonishment.

"James Potter?" he said unsurely.

"Yes Cornelius, exactly what I've been trying to say from the start. Young Mr. Potter and Mr. Black are here to ask for their positions as aurors back," Dumbledore stated.

At this Fudge seemed to light up, "Is that so?" said Fudge excitedly, "two of our best aurors back on the job, eh? Well I'd be happy to give you back your positions, but you'll have to take the exam again to get your licenses updated. Come back in two days and you can take the exam," he said.

"Yes Minister," said Sirius, speaking for the first time since they had entered the Ministry.

With that the three of them left the office, their little meeting had taken only a little more than an hour.

"Will you two be coming back to Hogwarts?" asked Dumbledore as he stood in front of the fire place.

"No professor, we're going to register as animagi and then we're going to James's house. He bought a house a week ago and decided not to tell anyone but me, figured it'd make a nice surprise" said Sirius.

"You bought a house that quickly?" asked Dumbledore, apparently surprised.

"Yes, it's in Hogsmeade. Apparently the owners had been waiting to sell it for ages," James replied.

"And when you told them your name was James Potter?" Dumbledore asked.

"Well, Sirius handled the papers and everything, he's going to move in with Harry and me (AN: Just in case you're wondering, this isn't going to turn into slash)" said James.

"I see," said Dumbledore as he grabbed a handful of floo powder, "well then, good day gentlemen" With a swish of emerald flames Dumbledore was gone.

**Well, there you have it, word is out. Hope it was alright, I had trouble with this one. But I figured since Fudge isn't really against Dumbledore yet he'd be a bit easier to persuade than if they'd gone to him the way he was in the fifth book...actually if they'd gone to him the way he was in the fifth book they'd probably be thrown in Azkaban for no apparent reason. Anyway, let me just take a minute for questions.**

**Spiorad-Thanks for the advice, I'll try to do that for future chapters!**

**enitsirk- Thanks, I figured he'd act a bit strange if he was that happy, because he usually isn't.**

**Well hope you like it! Thanks for reading, feel free to leave a review and I'll try to get the next one up soon!**


	16. Summer Vacation

**Hey guys, here's the next addition to the story. Hope you like it! **

**But first my customary thanking of the reviewers! A big thanks to Suicidal Bunnies, The One Eyed Witch, Barbossa'sApples, hermioneluver, volleypickle16, Kim Kotchanski, Kilikapele, amrawo, BabeBunny, padfootqueen, Eric2, Mariann's, and Saber master for your reviews! Thanks a bunch! OK, onward!**

(Ministry of Magic)-

After James and Sirius had acquired their licenses (which they hope was the right thing to do) they flooed to Hogsmeade. Instead of heading strait to their new house, they decided to go shopping. James and Sirius had emptied a good portion of their vaults yesterday, as they both needed to buy furniture and other things for the house. Neither of them had anything but the cloaks they were wearing.

They visited almost every store in the village (including Zonko's) and arranged to have furniture like beds and cabinets delivered to their new home. They shopped late into the evening, until they had spent almost every knut they had on them. Finally they decided it was time to head home. So they each grabbed about 30 shopping bags, shrunk them, and began the trek back to their house.

(Hogwarts-Gryffindor Common Room)-

Harry was a nervous wreck. Madame Promfrey had said his father and Sirius would be back by the afternoon and it was almost 8:00PM! What if something had happened to them while they were out? Then again, Dumbledore had gone with them, what could happen? But still…what if…

He went on like that all night, even after he had crawled into bed. He kept making up reasons why they would be safe, and then shooting them down with theories about why they might be in trouble. Finally, his troubled mind drifted into an uneasy sleep.

(Hogsmeade-James's House)-

Since the house wasn't yet connected to the floo network, James and Sirius were forced to walk through the village for half an hour before they finally trudge up the walkway to the house.

The house was one of the largest in Hogsmeade, which still wasn't very big, considering most of the other homes were town houses. It was still fairly large though, and James had a big empty space in the corner of his vault to show for it.

James took a key out of his pocket and opened the front door. The house was completely bare on the inside, as the previous owners had taken all of their furniture and possessions with them when they had moved.

"Could they spare it?" James joked as he looked around the empty living room,

He and Sirius then returned their shopping bags to normal size and they each pulled out a sleeping bag. Their beds wouldn't be arriving until tomorrow morning so they had bought these to use overnight.

They both raced up the stairs, trying to get the first pick of their rooms. Finally, they both chose one of the houses five bedrooms. They place their sleeping bags on the floor and turned off the lights. Both of them were so tired that they fell asleep before their heads hit the cheap polyester.

(Hogwarts-Third Year Boys Dormitory)-

Harry awoke the next morning in high hopes of finding that his father and godfather had returned. He jumped out of bed and changed his clothes before he raced down into the common room and out the portrait hole.

However, when he reached the Hospital Wing it worried him further when he found out that Dumbledore had returned yesterday, but his guardians had not. He left the Hospital Wing and headed for Dumbledore's office.

When he reached the stone gargoyle he quickly began rattling off every sweet he'd ever heard of. The gargoyle finally leapt aside when he said 'ice mice' and he hurried up the stairs, hoping Dumbledore was even awake so early in the morning. He knocked frantically at the door and was relieved to hear a familiar "Come in".

He stepped into the office to find his headmaster sitting at his usual place behind his desk.

"Am I really that obvious? I should probably stop making my password a kind of sweet now shouldn't I?" he said, his eyes twinkling.

"Professor!" he said, not wasting any time, "my dad and Sirius…they never-"

"Do not worry Harry, they are fine. You will see them again when they arrive to pick you up from Platform 93/4," Dumbledore said calmly.

Harry immediately relaxed. Why had he worried so much? They were grown men; they could take care of themselves! He must look like an idiot, loosing his mind when his father and Sirius had only been gone one day.

"Is that all you needed Harry?" he Dumbledore asked.

Harry nodded and left the office. He decided to go back to his dorm and pack, for the summer holidays were fast approaching.

(James's House)-

The next day there was an article in the news paper about how the Ministry had discovered James Potter, alive and well. The two of them shook their heads and tossed the article aside. No doubt the Ministry would twist it so it would seem like they had found James wandering the streets.

For the rest of the week, they spent all of their time filling their house with furniture, changing the wallpaper and flooring, buying new clothing and installing things like toilets and showers for the bathrooms. They stopped only to go to the Ministry to take their Auror examinations, which they both passed with flying colors.

Finally, the day came for them to pick Harry up from Hogwarts. Before they apparated to the station, they stood back to examine their work. The house looked nothing like it had when they had first arrived. It was now filled with furniture and brightly colored wallpaper. It looked like a much more cheerful place to live. Satisfied with their work, the two of them apparated to Kings Cross Station.

(Platform 93/4)-

Harry stepped through the barrier and was overjoyed to see his father, Sirius, and even Remus standing in the crowd of parents waiting to greet their children. They appeared to be having a very interesting conversation, but they looked up as the school children began to emerge from the barrier. He rushed over to them and greeted them happily. He looked around and was very excited and happy to see no sign of the Dursleys anywhere. Dumbledore had told them not to come, but hadn't given them a reason. Obviously, they had gladly accepted.

"Hey there Harry," said James, rumpling his son's hair, "how was your week?"

"Fine," Harry replied in a bored tone.

Remus gave Harry a smile and said, "I hope it's not my classes you seem less than enthusiastic about"

"No, yours are fine professor," he replied, "actually, they're probably the most interesting ones we take"

"Why thank you, at least I'm getting somewhere then" he said, ignoring the snickers coming from James and Sirius, "and you can call me Remus now Harry. You're not in school any more. Well, I'd better get going, I'll see you on you birthday Harry. You too Prongs and Padfoot," With that he left the station.

"God Moony's getting old, he's being all courteous," said Sirius, shaking his head.

"Nah, that's just Remus, he's always been that way," replied James.

Now Harry turned to the remaining two adults and asked, "Where exactly are we going anyway?"

"We just have to stop at the _Dursley's _to get whatever you left there from last summer and then we'll head home," James said, saying the word 'Dursley's' as if it was some deadly disease.

"You're dad bought a house," Sirius added.

Harry couldn't think of many things he had at the Dursley's, except for a few old Dudley's old clothes, some old letters his friends had sent him, a few pictures on his bedside table an old wallet with a very small amount of muggle money inside. Despite this, he decided to stop there anyway. After all he did want to see the look on the Dursleys' faces! So he followed his dad and Sirius out of the station.

**OK, hope you like it! Lemme answer questions quickly:**

**The One Eyed Witch: Why wouldn't James buy a house? His old one was destroyed, Sirius wouldn't go back to his old house unless he absolutely _had_ to, and it's not like they can just live at Hogwarts. They need a place to live don't they?**

**hermioneluver: Yeah, you're probably right, I'll remember that for later chapters.**

**Mariann's: Whoops, looks like I scrambled my facts. But I needed him to have been minister so we didn't need introduction and explanations and all that and I could just get them through the meeting. So I'm going to stick with it for now. Oh, and don't worry, Remus will be in it a bit more later, but I was focusing a bit more on Harry because he'd just found out.**

**Next chapter we head home, but not until after we pay the Dursleys a visit! Thanks for read, feel free to leave a review and I'll try to get the next one up soon! Bye!**


	17. Visiting the Dursleys

**OK guys, I'm really sorry it took so long! We just got a new computer and I couldn't figure out how to transfer my files and, since I already had the next two chapters written out and didn't feel like rewriting them, I had to wait for my dad to do it. **

**A big thanks to s.halliwell24, Kilikapele, Barbossa'sApples, BabeBunny, Silly Penguin, The One Eyed Witch, Ingrid-Potter, Suicidal Bubbles, angelssidekick, Eric2, amrawo, volleypickle16, Joou Himeko Dah, Dante Lewis, Kim Kotchanski, magicgirl45852, zippyfox, Taynna, SheaRaye, and Taeniaea!**

**Well, enjoy**

(Number 4 Private Drive)-

Apparently, since floo was the quickest possible way of travel as long as Harry was with them, James had gotten the Dursleys connected to the floo network for the day, as well as connecting their house to it for as long as they wanted. Harry smiled to himself as he imagined their expressions when he tumbled out of their fireplace unexpectedly.

They walked until the reached the Leaky Cauldron, and they each grabbed a handful of flu powder. Harry took a deep breath as he tossed his into the flames. He had never really like this method of transportation. As soon as his destination had passed his lips, he felt the familiar dizzying sensation of traveling by floo powder.

He heard a loud shriek as he finally rolled out of the fireplace, coughing and covered in ashes. He looked up to find that the Dursleys had apparently been eating their dinner when he had made his entrance.

"Boy! What do you think you are you doing? Crashing into my living room in the middle of our dinner! I assumed when we were told not to pick you up we were rid of you for good!" his uncle shouted, his face turning a couple of shades redder.

"I'm happy to say that I'm _not_ coming back here! I'm just here to pick up my possessions!" Harry replied, though in a calmer manner than his uncle.

Petunia looked at him for a moment and said, "Oh really? Where do you plan to go? You know we're your only living-"

But she didn't have a chance to finish his sentence, for at that moment another figure tumble out of the fire. Petunia paled as the man rose to his feet.

"Y-you!" she stuttered as she recognized James.

"Hello Dursley," James said, not bothering to try to sound friendly, "long time no see, not that that's a bad thing…"

Sirius burst from the fireplace a couple of seconds after James and got to his feet. Petunia turned even paler and screamed at the sight of him. It had said on the muggle news that the authorities had 'captured' him, and here he was standing in her house along with her sister's dead husband. This was a tad too much, she slumped to the floor in a faint. The three wizards simply stepped over her one their way up the stairs, leaving an angry Vernon and cowering Dudley behind.

Within three minutes Harry had collected the few possessions he had left behind on his trip to Hogwarts. This all felt so unreal to him. He was finally leaving the Dursley's! He didn't have to go back!

James looked disgustedly at the old, circus tent-like muggle clothing his son had stuffed into his trunk.

"Umm…Harry, you can leave those clothes here, we'll get you some new ones," said James.

Harry happily dropped the old clothes on the floor and closed his trunk. James and Sirius shook their heads as they made their way back down the stairs. Harry saw James and Sirius tap their wands on the banister of the stairs case before they all ran to the fire place, a furious Vernon on their tails. Harry looked back just long enough to see the Dursley's entire living room turn pink, before he said "Potter House" and was once again swooped up in the emerald flames.

(James's HousePotter House)-

He once again felt the effects of floo travel, before he landed in an unfamiliar living room on the other side. H stood up and examined his new home as his father tumbled out of the flames, closely followed by Sirius.

"When did you buy this house?" asked Harry, staring around the room in awe.

"Last week," replied James as he dusted off his robes.

"You bought a house in a week?" he asked.

"What? Is that such a big deal that everyone's so amazed?" asked Sirius.

"Who's everyone? Only Harry and Dumbledore have asked! And yes Harry, one week. Then it took another week to…errr…customize," said James.

"So, which room is mine?" asked Harry excitedly. He's never had a nice regular sized bedroom to himself. He'd been living in Dudley's old one for the past two summers.

"Right this way good sir," said Sirius in a dignified voice as he picked up Harry's suitcase.

"We even have a personal house elf," said James jokingly.

Sirius simply stuck his tongue out at that comment, but he continued to ascend the stairs. He stopped in front of a room in the middle of the hall. It had Harry's name painted on in red and gold letters. He stopped and pushed open the door.

Harry was ecstatic, the room was perfect. It had a big, comfortable looking bed, a nightstand, two dressers on either side of the room, a bureau, and a space on the wall with two pegs, where he assumed he was supposed to place his broom. There was also a bookshelf with a few spell books occupying the shelves, and his trunk now sat in the corner of the room where Sirius had placed it. He noticed there were new cases for both his wand and his glasses on the nightstand. What appeared to be a huge cushiony bean bag in the shape of a lion occupied another corner of the room. He couldn't believe they had bought all of this for him.

"So, what do you think? We're not exactly interior designers but I think we did alright," said James.

"I love it!" said Harry as he placed Hedwig's cage on his dresser, he couldn't really think of much else to say.

"Glad to here it," said James happily, then he added "this place has a huge backyard too, it's perfect for Quidditch practice"

Harry's eyes lit up and Sirius smiled, "Leave it to James to have his mind on his broom,"

The evening went by quickly. They had dinner and 'tested' the backyard for a while. After it got so late they could barely keep a grip on their brooms, they finally resigned to their beds. James sighed as they entered the house. It had been a wonderful day, why couldn't Lily have been there to share it?

Harry, however, had no upsetting thoughts at all, for the first time in his life. He sighed contently as he fell asleep in his new bed. He felt like his life was now perfect. Too bad things wouldn't stay that way for long

**Now I shall answer questions!**

**Taynna-That was at the beginning of the story but I already explained it. He didn't apparate to Hogsmease because he didn't want to see people yet, he doesn't know where the apparition barriers end, and also keep in mind he wasn't exactly in his right state of mind at that time.**

**Dante Lewis- Actually, they figured Dumbledore would explain to Harry where they'd gone. But since they didn't ask Dumbledore to tell Harry, he didn't let him know until he asked. **

**amrawo-This story's going to go all the way through fourth year**

**The One Eyed Witch-He bought it the night he confronted Sirius. They spent the whole night house hunting, then the next night they went and bought it.**


	18. Rat's Out of the Bag

The beginning of the summer was perfect; there was no other way to describe it. It was filled with trips around Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, visits with Remus, and long nights spent flying in the backyard. They had even taken Ron and Hermione with them to see a professional Quidditch game. Unfortunately, as the day of Harry's birthday arrived, so did some bad news.

The morning started out like every other one that summer. Harry hopped out of bed, changed into his clothes, and put on his glasses before heading downstairs to see what his father had made for breakfast (he wouldn't let Sirius attempt to cook again after he almost set the house on fire). However, as he walked downstairs he could already tell something was wrong.

His father and Sirius were not laughing and joking as they usually did in the morning. His father was at the stove, cooking with an unreadable expression on his face, and Sirius sat at the table reading the news paper, looking thoroughly angry.

"Everything OK?" Harry asked as he took seat at the table.

Without saying a word, Sirius handed the newspaper he had been reading to Harry. Feeling a little confused, Harry looked down at the article Sirius had been reading. When his eyes met the title, he felt his heart sink. The article read

**The Rat's Out of the Bag**

**Early yesterday morning it was brought to attention that Azkaban prisoner Peter Pettigrew was missing from his cell, making him only the second prisoner to everescape. Pettigrew was sentenced to Azkaban for multiple crimes, including supporting You-Know-Who, the murder of Lily and James Potter, framing Sirius Black, and for becoming an illegal rat animagus. If you see either the man or the rat in either of these pictures we warn you to alert the authorities immediately, for Pettigrew is extremely dangerous. **

Under the article there were two pictures, one of Pettigrew and one of his animagus form. Harry looked up from the paper, with a very large lump in hus throat.

"But how?" he asked Sirius.

"Those idiots at the ministry are denser than you'd think. I'll bet only threw him into a regular cell and he escaped through the bars in his animagus form," said Sirius, shaking his head.

"What does this mean?" asked Harry.

"We're not sure of that just yet," James said, looking up from the eggs he was frying, "Pettigrew won't show himself just yet though, that much is certain. He's afraid for his life. If the ministry captures his, they'll most definitely administer the kiss to him. He won't show himself unless he thinks there's someone powerful to protect him"

"Like Voldemort?" asked Harry.

"Possibly, or maybe even someone else. That rat will hide behind anyone powerful enough to protect his pathetic hide," said Sirius.

"Let's not let this ruin our day though. It is someone's birthday after all," said James, winking at Harry as he put the eggs onto three separate plates, "Wormtail can't do anything right now"

Harry nodded and began to eat his breakfast, but he knew the rest of the summer wouldn't be the same. The traitor had gotten away.

A bit later that day Harry's guests arrived. There weren't many, as they only consisted of Remus, the Weasleys and Hermione, but Harry was excited al the same. It was, after all, the first real birthday he had ever had, and the news of Wormtail's escape had been pushed from his mind.

They spent the day playing gobstones, exploding snap and wizard's chess, laughing and joking about how their summers had been so far.

After they had all had numerous pieces of birthday cake, it was time for Harry to open his presents. They all gathered around the living room table, all shoving numerous gifts into Harry's face. He made short work of unwrapping all of the, and after a few minutes he had received a new chess set from Ron, a toy snitch from Ginny, a 'Standard Prank Kit' from Fred and George (Sirius and James beamed), a book about Quidditch from Hermione and a book of defensive spells from Remus (James had rolled his eyes and let out a cough that sounded suspiciously like 'bookworm'). Finally James and Sirius handed him a small package from both of them.

Harry unwrapped it and found two knives in the box. He looked up at them questioningly.

"We bought those in a two pack when we were at school. They're both magic of course," said James.

"Yeah, this one," said Sirius, holding up the smaller knife, "was mine, it can unlock any door. Even if it's locked by magic"

"And mine," said James, "cuts through anything, except magically locked doors. I don't understand why they made two knives instead of putting both features into one, but we thinks it had something to do with the price. Anyway, watch" He picked up the larger knife and turned toward one of the chairs in the kitchen. He made a quick swishing motion in the air and the chair split in half.

Mrs. Weasley looked at James disapprovingly though she still seemed a bit shocked. Ron had told her about Harry's father but still, seeing him stading there…, "Do you really think you should be giving him something like that?" she said.

"Sure why not? It doesn't cut unless you want it to," said James as he placed the knives back in the box, "Just be careful with them Harry"

"Yeah, use them well," said Sirius.

Harry nodded and placed the box on the table with his other gifts.

Later that night, when the Weasley's were getting ready to leave (Hermione was going with them) Ron and Hermione brought up the subject of Pettigrew.

"Did you happen to read the Prophet this morning Harry?" asked Hermione, a worried look on her face.

"Yeah…yeah I did, but my dad says Pettigrew won't try anything for fear of getting caught," Harry replied.

"Let's hope so, because if I see that rat I'll-"

But he didn't get a chance to say what he would do because Mrs. Weasley called, "Ron, Hermione, let's go it's getting late,"

"Bye Harry, hopefully we'll see you again before September," said Hermione as they walked toward the fireplace.

Remus left soon after and Harry went up too his room to go to sleep. Even with the news of Pettigrew's escape, that was still the best birthday he'd ever had.


	19. Back to Hogwarts

**Hey guys! I know you've been waiting a while, but my next chapter is finally here! Sorry they take so long now, I don't have nearly as much time on my hands. I think my writing style has changed a bit since I started writing this. I think I tend to put a little more emotion into my work now, but you can decide that for yourselves.**

**Thanks to all of my wonderful reviewers, the reviews are very much appreciated. Hope you enjoy the chapter.**

-(Platform 93/4)-

After Harry's birthday, the rest of the summer had flown by. With no further news of Pettigrew, they were free to enjoy their last month of summer in peace. However, it wasn't the same, for the rat was still free. Either way, before they knew it, there they were standing in front of the Hogwarts Express, ready to begin another year at Hogwarts.

Harry felt a bit sad at the prospect of leaving his father and godfather so soon. The summer had been the best time he'd ever had in his life. It had been better than finding out he was a wizard, better than his first trip to Hogwarts, better than anything he could think of. Before this he hadn't known at all what it was like to have a parent. Sure, the Weasleys had looked out for him, but it wasn't the same. Even though he knew the cared about him, they weren't his parents.

Now, however, he had a father and a godfather all to himself, and he really didn't want to part with them after only two months. He realized this was the first time he actually didn't want to go back to Hogwarts. Still, he had no choice, and he bid his guardians farewell with a heavy heart as he boarded the train.

Once on board, his spirits lifted a bit as he saw his friends sitting in an empty compartment. He walked toward them and they looked up as he entered their compartment.

"Hello Harry," said Hermione, "How was the rest of your summer,"

"Better than any other summer I've been through, that's for sure," he answered, taking a seat next to his friends.

"Any news of Pettigrew?" asked Ron.

"No, haven't heard anything about him since his escape actually," Harry replied.

"I wonder what that rat is up to," said Ron.

"Sirius says Pettigrew won't come out of hiding unless there's someone that can protect him. He said there's nothing to worry about right now because he'd be too afraid of getting the kiss," Harry replied.

"I don't understand why the ministry wouldn't just put him in an animagus proof cell in the first place," said Hermione.

"They never learn," said Harry.

"Kind of like Fred and George," said Ron, changing the topic of conversation completely, "They keep doing all sorts of experiments up in their rooms. Mum's been trying to get them to stop it for weeks but they always find a way to get around her"

"What types of experiments are they doing exactly," asked Hermione curiously.

"You know, testing out knew spells and potions they can use in their pranks. They're convinced they want to run a joke shop when they get older, but mum won't hear it. She says it's a terrible waste of their minds," Ron replied, shaking his head.

Hermione, clearly disappointed that they were working with something as juvenile as pranks answered, "I for one agree with her. Fred and George need to grow up and start worrying more about they're school work"

"Typical Hermione response," Ron said to Harry, rolling his eyes. Hermione shot him a glare.

"Mum knows something we don't though, I'm sure of that. As I left the house this morning she said 'Have a great time at school! I wish I wash going, what with Dumbledore bringing back the-' but then she stopped, like she'd said to much," said Ron.

"That's weird, what do you reckon Dumbledore's doing this year?" asked Harry.

"Well, we'll just have to find out when we get there, now won't we?" said Hermione.

With the three of them now absorbed in conversation, the rest of the train ride went by rather quickly. The trolley came by a little into their ride, and they bought a little of everything to snack on while they talked.

After a while, Neville came into their compartment and told them they'd be at the school soon so they could change. They obliged, and Hermione went off into a different compartment while the boys put on their robes.

Once they had changed, the ride had almost come to an end, and it wasn't long before the train stopped in front of the familiar castle. It was time to begin the new school year.

They stepped off the train to hear the familiar cry of 'Firs' years! Firs' years over here!' that greeted them every year. Harry looked around at the familiar grounds as he stepped off the platform, all thoughts of not wanting to return to Hogwarts wiped from his mind. He was happy to be back.

-(Potter/Black House)-

After dropping Harry off at the station, James and Sirius had returned home. They had been offered the chance to become aurors again and, though they were excited about the idea at first, they had eventually declined. It would be best if they didn't go putting themselves in danger right now, especially when Harry needed them most. Besides, it wasn't like there was really anything big happening right now. Just the usual pathetic attacks by washed up Death Eaters.

The two men entered the house and sat down on the couch. They both stared into space for a few minutes, before Sirius broke the silence.

"Now what?" he asked, turning to face James.

"I'm not really sure. What do you want to do?" asked James.

"I dunno, what do you want to do?" Sirius asked.

"I dunno, what do you-. Oh this is stupid! Things are going to be pretty boring without Harry around," he said, sighing.

"Yeah, I'm gonna miss him too. Harry's a great kid you know," said Sirius.

"Yeah he is," James replied, smiling. But his smile quickly turned to a frown as he added, "I just wish I could have been there for him more, you know?"

"James it's not your fault. There's nothing you could do if you were…you know…dead," said Sirius.

"I know it's just…I feel so helpless. Harry's grown up. He's faced Voldemort twice already on his own. Three times if you count when he was a baby. Now he's gone off to Hogwarts again, and I can't protect him. It just makes me so nervous. First I lost Lily…if something happens to Harry I don't know what I'll do," said James. Unable to contain himself, he dropped his head into his hands and began to cry, not caring if Sirius saw.

"It's alright James, I'm worried for Harry too, and I know how you feel. When you and Lily…" he hesitated, "when you and Lily…died. I was devastated. I went after Peter, but he outsmarted me, and I was locked up. Harry was sent off to live with those…those muggles. I felt helpless too. There was nothing I could do to help from behind the iron bars of Azkaban. I'm still trying to get used to this. To being free, to you being…alive. But don't worry James. You'll be a great dad, Harry's very lucky to have you back. You see how proud he is when he talks to you about his accomplishments, about Quidditch, about school. He really needs you right now, so don't worry about what's happened to him in the past and just look toward the future. Even if you can't be there to protect him at Hogwarts, he still knows you're here, and that's what matters most to him. I'm sure of it. And Remus is there too, he won't let anything happen to Harry, no matter what" he said, looking over at his friend.

James looked up and smiled at his friend, the tears still shining in his eyes, and said, "Thanks mate," he wiped the tears from his eyes and gave a weak chuckle, "So, you still haven't told me what you want to do"

"We're marauders James, we'll think of something"

**Well, there you have it. Hope it wasn't too disappointing, I know it was a little uneventful. Anyway, as you can see, I have decided to incorporate the Triwizard Tournament into the fourth year of my fic. However, I know how boring it can be to read a fic with the same situations as the book, so I have a poll for you guys. Should I keep the tasks of the Triwizard Tournament the same as in the book or should I give them different tasks? Though whichever one you pick, I'm still keeping the champions from each school the same. Whichever one gets more votes is the way I'll write the story. See you next chapter! **


	20. The End

**OK guys, you should really read this before proceding to the chapter, because I've decided to end it in this chapter rather than go through the entire fourth year. The reason for this is simply because I had almost nothing interesting happening during the fourth year, but I wanted to end the story here. For story purposes, everything in the fourth year happened exactly the same way as in the book, except that Barty Crouch Junior was never there. instead Wormtail slipped harry's name into the Goblet of Fire and Harry was on his own from there.**

**OK everyone, here comes the final chapter:**

Harry felt himself hit the ground hard and coughed twice as the wind was knocked out of him. He lay on the ground with his eyes squeezed shut for a few moments, not daring to open them and find out where he was. He'd known something was wrong the moment he and Cedric had grabbed that trophy, and after feeling the effects that only a portkey could bring, he had a feeling he wasn't in Hogwarts anymore.

A shiver ran down his spine as a hiss pierced the night air, "Kill the spare"

"AVADADA KADAVRA"

A surge of green light flared, and he saw it from behind his eyelids but still did not open his eyes. He had just suddenly become aware of a horrible burning pain in his scar, which soon reached the point where he thought his head would explode. However, after a few moments the pain went down a bit and he got up the courage to cock one eye open.

Cedi was lying motionless on the ground next to him, eyes wide open, and Harry's own eyes widened in shock at the implications. He wanted to rush over to Cedric, to shake him awake so they could both make a run for it. His brain was in a haze, and it took him a moment to realize the force that was keeping him from getting to Cedric was now dragging him across what appeared to be a cemetery. Through the fog of his thoughts, he saw that the tombstone he was being dragged toward read "Tom Riddle". Suddenly, adrenaline surged through his veins and he began to squirm with all his might, but the tiny cloaked man who held him would not relinquish his grasp.

Harry was thrust up against the tombstone, and he soon felt ropes bind his hands and feet. He caught a glimpse of the hand that was holding the wand, and suddenly he knew who the short wizard was.

"Wormtail!" he spat. His head was throbbing and he was starting to feel dizzy, the sight of this rat was the last thing he needed right now.

However, Wormtail did not even acknowledge his presence, but instead went over to a bundle of robes that Harry had not even noticed before. When his eyes lighted upon it a surge of pain seared through his scar, and suddenly he realized that whatever was under those robes was not something he wanted to stick around and see.

Wormtail was busy at a cauldron, and after a few moments he said, "It is ready master"

"Now," the voice hissed in reply, and Harry felt another shiver trill up his spine. Suddenly, he realized what, or _who _was in those robes, and he knew that he had to stop whatever was supposed to happen here tonight.

He began to struggle violently against the ropes, and he gasped as he felt something sharp brush against his leg. It took him a few moments to realize that it was his father's knife. A small bubble of hope formed in his mind as he wiggled a bit more. Remembering what his father had said about the knife cutting only what you needed it to, he tried to move slowly back and forth, willing the knife to cut through the rope binging his right anke.

A few moments later he felt the rope snap, and he knew his plan had worked. He glanced up to see if Wormtail had noticed, just in time to see him cut off his hand with a rather rusty looking dagger. Harry blanched, but did not hesitate in carrying out the rest of his plan. Lifting up his right knee, he could just feel the tip of the knife with his fingers, as his hand was bound downward. He finally got a whole of the knife, and with a little persistence, freed his right hand from its rope.

Wormtail now seemed to have noticed what Harry was doing and was running toward him. In two swift motions, Harry cut the ropes binding his left hand and left ankle, and dropped to the ground.

Adrenaline surged through his blood. Without thinking, he rushed past Wrotail toward the bundle of robes. His scar exploded with every inch, but he ignored the pain. With all his might, he lifted the knife above his head and plunged it into the robes.

A ghastly hiss erupted from the blanket, and beams of a strange black light clouded his vision. His head felt as though it might explode, but he held the knife in place. The robes shook violently, and then dropped to the ground in a heap. Whatever had been inside was gone.

Harry lifted his knife out of the blankets, and turned, feeling as though he might pass out ast any moment. Wormtail, seeing what had happened, had transformed into a rat, but Harry used every last ounce of strength in his body to kick him with all his might. The rat flew a couple of inches into the air and skidded to a halt a few feet away, unconscious. Harry picked up the rat, shoved it into his pocket, and stumbled to the spot were Cedric lay, black spots now clouding his vision. He grabbed a hold of Cedric's arm and thrust himself forward. He thought he felt his fingers brush the cold metal of the portkey before he lost consciousness.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

When Harry awoke, it was to find himself in a bed in the Hospital wing with his father, Sirius and Dumbledore standing over him. He blinked a few times and found that his head was still pounding, but the pain had diminished greatly. Upon seeing him awake, the three mean let out a collective sigh of relief.

"Thank God," said James, enveloping Harry in a gentle hug, "What happened?"

Harry, who had been hoping that whole ordeal had been nothing but an unpleasant nightmare, blanched at the thought of repeating what he had seen.

"The trophy, it was a portkey. It took Cedric and I to some sort of graveyard…Cedric…where is he?" Harry asked suddenly, looking around as if expecting to see Cedric lying in the hospital bed next to him.

The three men around his bed exchanged a glance, before Dumbledore said slowly, "Cedric…is dead Harry. He was hit with the Avada Kadavra curse. It is most unfortunate that we have lost such a young life"

"No…" Harry mumbled under his breath, eyes wide. He'd already known what had happened, but hearing it confirmed by Dumbledore made it all sink in.

"What happened in the graveyard Harry?" Dumbledore asked gently, as if speaking to a frightened child.

"Peter…he was there…he…oh!" suddenly Harry remembered shoving the unconscious rat into his pocket. He was relieved to find that he was still in there when he stuck his hand in. Plucking Wormtail out of his pocket by the tail, he handed him to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore seemed surprised by the new development, but bound Peter's hands and feet with ropes and placed him in his own pocket, patiently awaiting the rest of Harry's story.

"Voldemort, he was there. I don't know what he looked like, Peter had him wrapped i-in some sort of robes. He bound me to a tombstone, but I cut myself free with my dad's knife and I plunged it into the robes. There was this weird light and hissing and whatever was under the robes vanished" he finished.

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows upon hearing this, and said, "Harry, are you sure whatever was under those robes was Voldemort?"

Harry thought for a moment before replying, "Yes, I'm not sure how I knew, but when I looked at it my scar hurt, and I could just tell what was underneath"

Dumbledore nodded and said, "Harry, if what you say if true, you may have actually…killed Voldemort. Do you still have the knife you used?"

Harry put his hand into his pocket once more and pulled out the knife, the blade of which now looked charred and black. He handed it to Dumbledore, who left the room with the promise to return later. Sirius followed, wanting to give James a little time with Harry. He would talk to them later.

"Harry, are you alright?" he asked, pulling his son into a hug now that they were alone. Harry sat up and returned the hug gratefully. Unable to control himself any longer, he felt sobs begin to rack his body and felt the warmth of tears on his cheeks. He let the horrors of what he had seen poor out of him in the form of tears, comforted greatly by his father's presence.

"It's OK Harry. Everything will be alright soon"

Somehow, Harry believed him.

**The End**

**A big thanks to everyone who followed this fic to the end, I know I didn't update very often and I appreciate your sticking with me. I hope you found the ending plausible and won't kill me for skipping the fourth year, as it contained no important information. Please review one last time and thanks for sticking with me. **

**Sparkling Patronus, signing off. P**


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